Working Title
by PaleEnchantress
Summary: What happens when Hinata is forced to join hebi to help find Itachi? She's not allowed to return to Naruto's side. Will she decide to help Sasuke, or will she betray him and return to Naruto? Will Sasuke care either way?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Karin, are you sure your information is accurate?" asked an unbelieving Sasuke, fists tight with anger.

"AHHH!! How many fucking times do i need to tell you!??? Your little blonde boyfriend is looking for you with a bunch of his little friends... You or Itachi...", spoke Karin, obviously annoyed with the times she had had to repeat herself.

_Itachi... Damn you Naruto, why do you always insist on getting in my way..._ thought Sasuke. Memories of how Itachi had searched for Naruto, a complete stranger, and not him, his own brother began to flash in his mind.

"And why exactly are they looking for Itachi again??" Sasuke asked for the thousandth time fuming.

Karin stared for a moment unable to comprehend the reason she had to repeat herself THIS many times. "Ugh! If only I would have known this was the catch to spending time with you, i would've settled for one of the prisoners!"

Sasuke just stared, as if he hadn't caught anything she had said.

_Damn this is bothersome..._ "OK OK. They are looking for you or Itachi, Itachi obviously to use him as a trap for you... but the whole point of this is to get to you... There and that's the last time I say it..." Karin said, smoke beginning to come out of her ears.

"And who was in their little group?"

_UNBELIEVABLE! _"OK, it was a guy with some weird metal thing on his forehead i suppose his name was Yamato..., your boyfriend, obviously Naruto, some girl with white eyes, and indigo hair, I think her name was Hinata or something. Those two were accompanying Naruto, but there was more people that went in different directions... a boy with a little pup, some guy that had himself completely covered up, glasses, hoody, all that, some guy with silver hair and a mask covering most of his face, ooooh some cutie that looked kinda like you, oh and some girl with pink hair..." Karin said still with hearts in her eyes as she recalled Sai's image in her mind.

_Mmm, Ok so obviously it's Naruto, Hinata, Yamato, hmmm... pup... oh of course that idiot Kiba, all covered up, heh Shino, Kakashi, cutie... ... ummm... Sai I guess..., and Sakura. That's not so bad. He could easily avoid most of them. But wait... white eyes, Damn! Why didn't he think of it before? Hinata is a Hyuga. Meaning she can see miles ahead with those white eyes of hers... Shit, what if they get to Itachi before I do... This poses a challenge now, and to be honest he didn't need one on a mission this important. I mean this is my lifelong mission, and there was already all the other Akatsuki members that also stood in his way. OK... So we somehow need to dispose of Hinata... OR... _Sasuke's frustrated face turned into his signature grin at the thought of his plan.

Suigetsu, Karin, and Juugo (A/N: sorry I don't know how to spell it) just stared.

"What are you all of a sudden grinning about? What Karin said isn't exactly good news... I mean that's a shitload of Shinobi after your pretty boy ass..." Suigetsu asked clearly frustrated with the thought of having to deal with the famous copy ninja Kakashi... or any of those other people Karin had described. The only one that Suigetsu was interested in at the moment was the Akatsuki member Kisame, and obviously he needed all the rest before he faced someone at his level.

"Idiot... We're not going to fight anyone... well you are, but it's just one person, and she's not a very impressive foe from what little I recall of her." Sasuke said, still grinning.

"Wait... she... why on earth would you send me to fight a girl???" Suigetsu asked completely dazed.

"Hinata posesses the white eye, Byakugan, which has the ability to spot a target from miles ahead... to be honest I don't need anymore competition... that's why I brought you three." Sasuke said in his usual quiet, cold tone.

"So what are you suggesting? You want me to take her out?" Suigetsu said smirking evilly at the thought of getting practice with his new sword... Maybe someone with skills like those would be hard to surprise, which meant a challenge, but by the way Sasuke was talking about her, not too big of a challenge. _Interesting..._

"... No... What you will do is go over there and kidnap her... We will use her abilities to help me find Itachi, and to obviously keep clear of those after us" , Sasuke said, his usual empty look back on his face.

"KIDNAP HER, USE HER, YOU MEAN YOU WANT HER ALIVE!!!!", Suigetsu asked the gleam in his eye gone, shaking his fist in the air.

"I won't repeat myself... You may go now" Sasuke states sitting down obviously waiting for Suigetsu to return mission accomplished.

"Ugh i suppose... will she be hard to handle" Suigetsu asked, hope washing over him once more...

"Doubt it, from what I know about her, which is close to nothing, I hear she's a nice, shy, pushover." Sasuke said hoping his information was accurate. It wasn't his fault he didn't remember much about her... After all, she never even tried talking to him either... which was a big deal back in the days of the Academy. He remembered her being the only girl in the entire academy that wasn't after his good looks... Something he always appreciated... It was why he had noticed her at all, actually...

"Ugh i guess I'm off then", Suigetsu said his entire energy drained from him, I mean obvioulsy he wasn't gonna need it against a pushover.

"Oh and one last thing... don't make any noise, try to catch her alone, I don't want the entire flock to follow you here..." Sasuke added laying down now, knowing that this might take a while... _Naruto alone means more noise than a whole army of shinobi, and that is not what I want right now... Maybe after this is all over..._

"Heh, you just made it a challenge... so I lure her away from the group, then surprise her and knock her out and drag her here!" Suigetsu said...

"Whatever, just bring her back... alone and unharmed Oh, and she's the one with the indigo hair and white eyes." Sasuke replied still laying down on the floor next to a tree. _Lousy description, but then again it's safer this way, I haven't seen her in a while now... _Not that it mattered to him anyway.

"Right then I'm off... ... hey Sasuke" Suigetsu turned one last time...

"hmm" Sasuke looked once more at Suigetsu, a scowl on his face by now.

"You said you were a real lady's man back in your Academy days right", Suigetsu asked.

"I said no such thing, what you heard from Kabuto is not my problem" Sasuke answered, taken aback by the question. Then putting his arms behind his head and resting back down.

"OK then, laterz", Suigetsu said before finally flying off into the darkness of the forest, all while smirking to himself.

_Wonder why that last question... _Sasuke wondered before finally falling into a nap.

Meanwhile Karin stood there, angry as hell thinking _Another female in Hebi... Oh fuck no..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Ooookay, this is definitely her... Damn, why didn't anyone tell me she was gonna be cute... well not as cute as Karin, but no way in hell was he EVER going to admit that... Ok... This is it... Sasuke was a lady's man back in the day so if I show up naked she will be inclined to follow... Who knows maybe I could even get some action while disguised as Sasuke... heeheehee... OK here goes nothing..._

"Henge!' Suigetsu said under his breath and formed a couple of seals, and in just moments, poof, Sasuke, in nothing but pants appeared still holding Suigetsu's sword.

Suigetsu looking one last time to make sure she was still nearby, stood up deliberately making a very small amount of noise by stepping harshly on a bunch of dead leaves about 20 feet away from Hinata.

Hinata turned and blinked twice... _Sasuke! I-I found him! Oh no... What do I do... i wandered a bit far from everyone, what if he escapes, Naruto-kun would never forgive me..._

"A-ah Sasuke-san... i-is it really you?" Hinata said still not believing what she was seeing...

Suigetsu smirked at how innocent she looked and began walking away from her...

"S-Sasuke-san, p-please wait, d-don't go please..." Hinata stuttered and took off after him.

_This is all for you Naruto-kun..._ Hinata thought as she walked into a clearing...

"S-Sasuke-san?"

_Oh no, I lost him... Naruto-kun will never forgive me, and I can't possibly hide this from him..._ Hinata thought as tears began to swell on her eyes...

_Awww look at her, she's probably in love with Sasuke... Heehee this is perfect, if I take her back, maybe Sasuke will pay more attention to her, and Karin will have no choice but to fall back to me!!! Hah it's flawless... _Suigetsu thought as he jumped down off the tree and onto the space right in front of Hinata.

Hinata looked up in surprise and saw a smiling and oh my god... shirtless sasuke no more than an inch away from her... Her surprise resulted in her falling on her behind as she looked up at an approaching Sasuke. He slowly bent his legs in order to be face to face with her.

"u-ugh- I- Ah-S- sa-ke-s-s-s-s" Hinata's face began to redden and heat up to an impossible degree..._ Why is he so shamelessly dressed and so close to me...?????_

_Oh what the hell... She's about to blow... Heehee I should kiss her... she will surely faint and it will be easier to take her back to Sasuke..._ Suigetsu thought as he leaned in closer to Hinata his lips beginning to pucker out.

_AHHHHHHHH!!1 What is he doing? _Hinata thought and without another thought she activated her Byakugan and hit the root of his chakra flow... But unfortunately for her, it was as if a baby had just punched him for the first time. The impact level was zero.

_What was that..._Suigetsu stopped to look down at his stomach... he blinked twice and then smiled..._ heh she really is a pushover... _Suigetsu thought as he leaned in even closer as she backed further away.

_AHHH!!! Dammit why am I such a weakling... Naruto-kun I'm so sorry... you're gonna hate me forever... but why does MY gentle fist have to take so long to take effect... Oh my god... He's so close... _

And before you knew it... Sasuke's and Hinata's lips were touching...Hinata had already reached a dead end with the ground and Sasuke was leaning on top of her giving her a reason to be scarred for life...

Hinata's heat was so much she finally fainted and Sasuke finally transformed back into Suigetsu...

_Haha... mission accomplished... This was wayyyyy too fun... _Suigetsu thought as he placed Hinata on his shoulder and began walking back to where Sasuke, Juugo, and his Karin were waiting for him... When all of a sudden...

_Ahh! What the fuck is this... it hurtssss... _Suigetsu thought as he slowly put Hinata on the ground and began to look for any sign of physical injuries...

_No, nothing, so why the hell do I all of a sudden feel so drained... and in pain..._ Suigetsu thought clutching his stomach with both arms...

He looked down at Hinata who was nowhere near conscious...

_She didn't even touch me... well she did but that puny little punch felt weaker than a baby's... she hardly even touched me it was more like a scrape really... _Suigetsu thought dumbfounded to no end...

_Mannn it's gonna be tough to carry her back now... my energy feels as if it just died on me... _He thought as his knees began to shake.

"Oh well. I guess there's no helping it..." Suigetsu said as he grabbed the unconscious girl's hand and began dragging her...

_She feels so fucking heavy all of a sudden..._ Suigetsu thought nervously. _Dammit what the hell am I supposed to do if she wakes up? No way in hell can I fight even a weakling like her in this state... _

Suigetsu again just grabbed a hold of her arm and again began dragging the girl back to where his comrades were... bitching under his breath the whole way...


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I've been forgetting to put disclaimers, I don't know if they're necessary, but I don't own any of the Naruto characters.)

**Chapter 3**

"Heh, about time you came back," Sasuke said in a bored tone opening his eyes... " I was already getting tired of resting..."

"Not funny..." Suigetsu muttered before finally collapsing onto the ground...

"Awww don't tell me this little one gave you a hard time in battle Suigetsu, dear" Karin said teasingly, arms crossed in front of her, and with a crooked smile on her face.

"Why don't you just shut the fuck up Karin!?" Suigetsu said in an annoyed tone, mad that he had made a fool of himself in front of Karin.

"What happened? You look pretty drained, yet no scratches or bruises anywhere?" Juugo said making everyone turn. He hadn't spoken much since they recruited him for Hebi, and his interest seemed very out of place to his companions.

"Heh, didn't any of you ever attend school?" Sasuke said with a smirk on his face, slowly standing up using the tree behind him as support, then crossing his arms.

"The Hyuuga fight in a form called the gentle fist, which causes no outside damage, but has the power to completely shut off or damage your chakra circulation, that and it can mess up your inner organs..." Sasuke said in I-Can't-Believe-You-Don't-Know-This tone.

"Hmm, I guess I was caught offguard... I mean you did say she was a nice, and shy pushover. Oh and you were soooo right about the shy part" Suigetsu said smirking, still laying down on the floor arms and legs spread out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke said not very interested, while leaning down to inspect the Hyuuga girl. _Heh... good thing I left out the very short hair part of the description, or this idiot would've taken even longer. _Sasuke thought noticing Hinata's current hair, which had grown a bit past her shoulders.

"Yeah, what the hell did you do to her?" Karin asked a small pang of jealousy arising inside her... Her arms begining to tense and stiffen at her sides.

"Oh nothing..." Suigetsu said still smirking.

"I just kissed her..." Suigetsu said beginning to notice that his Karin was sounding interested. _Awww... she's sooo cute when she's mad..._

"Whattttt?!?!?!?!" Karin asked increduously. Oh how she wanted to punch the pirahnna-look alike. She stiffly raised a fist and began shaking it towards Suigetsu.

"You kissed her?" Sasuke asked still sounding quite bored. "And THAT'S why she's in her current state?" He looked down at Hinata again. _Damn, I didn't know she was THAT shy... Mann, she's pathetic..._

"Yup" Suigetsu replied still really proud that he had made Karin at least a little jealous. "Hey, Sasuke I think she's like in love with you or something..." Suigetsu added unable to wait any longer to execute his plan. He quickly sat up looking up at Sasuke and leaned back on his arms, his lips forming a grin that showed off the sharpness of his teeth.

"What makes you think that?" Sasuke asked a bit angry as he began to acknowledge what Suigetsu was heading for._ Did he fucking interrogate her while he was there... Can't these idiots see that I'm serious about this damn mission... _"Well, what the hell did you do?" Sasuke demanded, his eyebrows tense.

"Well, in order to catch her offguard and away from everyone... I had to disguise myself as you, so I lured her further away from her group, but i guess she couldn't see me anymore and awww, she began to tear up. Then as I kissed her... she got extremely red, and fainted. But not before going all soft fist on my ass." Suigetsu said as he made all sorts of gestures with his hands and taking a huge breath afterward.

Sasuke just stared unable to believe what his idiotic comrade had just said...

_He kissed her while looking like me... Nooooo..._ Sasuke thought, afraid he was gonna have yet another fangirl in his group...

"You idiot..." was all Sasuke could say to his imbecile of a comrade...

"When she wakes you will explain everything to her... Dammit you think i need another fucking love-struck kunoichi in this damn group?..." Sasuke said to his wide-eyed comrade and then added "Oh and by the way you're carrying her and we begin moving now!", and began walking into the shadows, too angry to wait up.

_Damn... I guess he's pissed off at me now... bleh who cares... it'll pass when this little girl awakens, and then Karin will be nicer to me and over time she will learn to appreciate my existence... _Suigetsu thought. The beauty of his plan wiping out all the fatigue of his body.

He smiled and slowly bent over to pick up the unconscious girl off the ground. When he straightened his body out he caught a glimpse of Karin looking back at the Hyuuga with an expression full of envy, and then quickly turned around and began walking... Too bad Suigetsu was just as or duller than Naruto was...

_Damn, what was that for... Hmph I bet she's just jealous cuz Sasuke is probably going to get along better with this chick than with her. _Suigetsu thought, still really confident that his plan was going to work.

"unn, ahh,... owww..." Hinata's eyes began fluttering open, and blackness turned into Suigetsu's face.

"Hey, little girl, good morning, hahahaha I can't believe a kiss knocked you out till morning." Suigetsu teased taking advantage of how innocent Hinata looked.

Hinata's cheeks began to redden as she remembered her kiss with Sasuke... "I- I- Wh-what? Wh-why a-am I... here... wh-who are you... owww" Hinata winced as she felt her whole left side sting.

"Heh, calm down... I'm Suigetsu, that girl over there is Karin, the big one over there is Juugo, and I believe you know Sasuke already... heeheehee" Suigetsu said pointing at each of his teammates who were located a couple of feet behind him.

"Wh-why does m-my entire side h-hurt so much?" Hinata asked inspecting all the scratches that were on the side of her right leg, arm, and waist, even some of her face had a good number of scratches on it. "Why a-am I full of scratches?" Hinata asked still a bit dazed by her surroundings.

"Oh, hehe that, yeah you wouldn't have them if you hadn't gone uh... gentle fist on me..." Suigetsu said beginning to get embarassed and looking away from Hinata a sheepish grin on his face. " I collapsed after you punched me... and I had to drag you back" By now his face was completely fallen.

"I- I- 'm s-so sorry, I-I p-panicked wh-when y-you umm you tried well d-did I-I umm kiss me" Hinata said her voice at an extremely high pitched note.

"Heh, no problem I guess you figured out that that wasn't really Sasuke that kissed you... heh well-"

"Hinata" Sasuke interupted with an annoyed tone on his voice. He was annoyed at how long Suigetsu took to clear up the whole kiss thing, but now that that was over with, it was important to carry on with their mission.

Hinata turned to Sasuke and whatever feeling of comfort Suigetsu had provided was now long gone. Sasuke just looked so cold all the time. It had always been that way. Looking up at him, Hinata realized that he hadn't changed a bit. He was standing there hands crossed and leaning on a tree behind him looking down at her with no emotion. "Mm"

"You were brought here, kidnapped, I suppose, to help us and not Naruto on finding Itachi, my brother." Sasuke said, his eyes closed.

Hinata just sat there, saying nothing. _He planned this whole kidnapping thing... Why on earth would Naruto fight so hard to retrieve someone like this... He just doesn't seem worth it... _Hinata thought to herself immediately scolding herself afterward for thinking so horribly of Sasuke.

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked over at the nervous wreck that was Hinata. "Well..."

"I-I I can't... he-help you... I-I'm sorry Sasuke san" Hinata said shuddering a bit at the cold glare Sasuke was giving her...

"Well, you can't be an inconvinience to us, so if you refuse to help us... fine, but you're not allowed to return to your friends, sorry but this is just too important to me." Sasuke said looking at Hinata as if she was the most uninteresting thing in the world.

"W-Wait, S-Sasuke-san, wh-why are you looking for your brother?" Hinata asked hoping that he wasn't trying to ally himself with him to go against Naruto, after all she never cared enough about Sasuke to know anything about him. All she knew was that he was an excellent fighter, a genius, some even called him.

"I want to kill him" Sasuke said in a matter-of-fact tone. He turned and began walking away. Apparently their brake was to be over as soon as she woke up.

Hinata just sat there shocked at his answer. _Why would he want to kill his brother? What could have brought this on? _Hinata looked at Sasuke, no longer in fear, but in sympathy. _Nobody would want to kill a family member for no reason... poor Sasuke..._

Sasuke looked back at the others to make sure they had started moving behind him. When he did he saw Hinata staring at him... Her eyebrows knotted and her eyes beginning to water... He looked back at her and realized that nobody had ever given him that look at first glance... It bothered him how she obviously felt sorry for him without knowing him or anything that had happened to him... _Why..._

"Don't look at me like that", Sasuke's sharingan activating due to his anger... He hated that look... and from a girl nonetheless... the only looks he ever got from girls were those of lust, love, or dreaminess... those he could tolerate... but pity, he could never take that.

Hinata looked down at the ground the fear returning to her. "I-I'm sorry Sasuke-san, I will help you..."

Sasuke looked down at her and asked "Why? Because you feel sorry for me? If that's your motivation, then do me a favor and save your effort... but you stay with us until Itachi drops dead." Sasuke said practically screaming at her, Sharingan still looking down at her.

"Th-that's n-not the reason, S-Sasuke-san, I just... I want to protect..." Hinata stopped and blushed. _I almost said it. I almost revealed to them that I care a great deal about Naruto, enough to face an Akatsuki member. But if they really do want to kill Itachi then that means Naruto won't have to fight him, which will leave him unharmed, and then Sasuke can return to Naruto-kun and he can be happy. Yes. That's my goal now. To protect Naruto-kun._

_She wants to protect me... why... she doesn't even know me... she's never had a crush on me.. but then Suigetsu said... Eh whatever if she'll help me then it doesn't matter. _Sasuke thought while looking at the girl unbelievingly. Then as quickly as it came the unbelieving eyes disappeared and again turned into those careless, half closed eyes he was famous for. "Tch, suit yourself. We'll be leaving in a while, so be ready." He said casually and walked away, his eyes once again black.

"Mm" Hinata said as she got up. Everyone, except Sasuke, who had already walked off was staring at her. Suigetsu wore a small smile on his face, Karin was looking at her with disgust and Juugo was looking at her with indifference. Slowly she began to brush off any dirt that had stayed on her since she apparently had been dragged for a while, and walked off to where Sasuke was last seen. The forest was so dense, there was hardly any sunlight. The only sound to listen to was the crunching of the leaves as they were being crushed step by step by the team members of Hebi.

Everyone slowly followed about ten feet behind her. Suigetsu first, Karin second and Juugo last.

Sasuke was not too far away from them all standing still, obviously waiting up on them. "About time." he said in an annoyed voice and started walking, never glancing back.

"So, Hinata, exactly how far can you see with that Hyuuga ability of yours?" Karin asked, expecting the girl to be as weak as she seemed. She looked at Hinata with an evil smile and slowly adjusted her glasses and ran her hand through her hair in order to move her bangs out of her glasses.

"Mmm, I w-would guess about ten miles ahead, of course that would be my maximum range and i-it would probably b-be really blurry t-to me..." Hinata said at first with confidence and then she began stuttering when she saw how mad Karin looked.

"Wow, that's pretty good." Suigetsu said still amazed with the Hyuuga abilities.

"Th-thank you..." Hinata said in a small voice looking down the whole time. It was obvious Karin wasn't too fond of Hinata.

"A-ah s-s-sorry Sasuke san." Hinata said when she realized she had bumped into Sasuke who had stopped moving.

Sasuke looked at Hinata and said " Ok, this is where you come in... look around for six miles in all directions and tell me if anyone is heading our way..."

"H-hai, Sasuke san"... "Byakugan" Hinata said under her breath and did some hand seals... _Hmm... nobody to the North... South... no... East... no... and finally West... nobody at all... hadn't anyone realized that she was gone... Did anyone even care? Naruto-kun probably cared, not more than he cared for Sakura, but still... _Hinata thought as her head dropped and her Byakugan disactivated.

"Well..." Sasuke urged. _What the hell is she thinking about... _Sasuke thought getting frustrated..._ First she looks at me with pity, now she's taking forever to help me out..._

"No one's c-coming Sasuke-san..." Hinata said sounding dispirited and shutting her eyes to finally rest them.

"In that case we'll walk until we reach a hotel of some sort..." Sasuke said the boredom never leaving his voice. _Damn, how the hell am I supposed to find Itachi... I have no idea where to look. I guess I'll just figure it out when we reach a resting place...Anyway, we have to be in top condition if we're going to fight any Akatsuki member. _"What are you all waiting for, shouldn't you be grateful I'm finally letting you rest?" he grunted when he realized that nobody had moved from their spot.

Nobody argued to that, they were all very tired of finding someone that was nearly impossible to find.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was an extremely small village, but a village nonetheless. Sasuke thought with a frown. _This is the only time that I will allow rest for a while and we have to sleep in this piece of crap town? _Sasuke thought frowning. He began walking faster and motioned for all of them to follow when he spotted a sign that read "Yamato Ryokan".

It looked like crap to go with the rest of the town, but it probably had beds, and if he wanted to come up with a plan on finding Itachi, he needed someplace comfortable.

The sky was already dark, and it had began to sprinkle. Hinata knew this was a good chance to monitor the surrounding area again, just to make sure they had steered clear of anyone, including her beloved Naruto.

"Ahh, Sasuke-san..." Hinata squeaked out attempting to get Sasuke's attention in order to inform him about her situation.

"Mm" he replied, turning his head a small bit but not enough to face her. He was in a hurry since he detested getting wet at any time other than his shower time.

"Uh-uh I... D-do you want me to look around again?" Hinata offered smiling a bit since she loved to stay out when it rained.

"Why would you have to?" Sasuke responded. _Does she see something... Why is she helping so willingly all of a sudden..._ Sasuke thought suspiciously. _She's so strange, either that or she's planning on betraying me later on._

"W-well, the rain drops the temperature of the atmosphere and it is easier to spot things at a distance in conditions l-like this..." Hinata said a bit distracted, facing up and letting the raindrops run down her pale face. Her eyes were shut and her mouth partially open hoping to catch some of the raindrops.

"I guess... sure..."_I don't care I just wanna get the hell out of this damn rain... _Sasuke thought finally approaching the porch of the building, breathing a sigh of relief when the raindrops finally stopped falling on him... _Finally..._ He thought and breathed out a sigh of relief..

Everyone was already at the entrance. Juugo, Karin, Suigetsu, and Sasuke. The only one that stayed behind was Hinata, who stood right outside the rooftop still standing in the middle of the rain.

"Can we go in already?" Karin asked Sasuke in an annoyed tone, as she slowly began grabbing her hair and twisting and turning it hoping to get all the water out of it. Then without waiting for an answer, she walked in. Suigetsu and Juugo followed after her, Juugo also annoyed by the rain, and Suigetsu just to keep up with Karin. Sasuke was about to walk in when he remembered Hinata was still outside.

"Are you still monitoring?" Sasuke spoke a lot louder than usual since by then the rain had began to pour down more heavily. He was frustrated and deeply wanted to go inside to a nice, dry bed or futon.

Hinata turned, surprised he was still there. "Oh, G-gomenasai Sa-Sasuke san, I got carried away by the rain..." She slowly closed her eyes, formed a hand seal and mouthed the word 'Byakugan'. _hmm... again, nothing to the north... east... west... let's see south... ... no... and the rain is letting me see even further away, how far away have we wandered... from my teammates..._ Hinata began feeling discouraged... She knew she wanted to help Sasuke, but it hurt her to think that maybe they hadn't even noticed she was gone, or even worse, they did, but they had already given up on her... After all it wasn't out of the ordinary to disappear with so many Akatsuki members so nearby...

"I'm still waiting, Hinata..." Sasuke said, eyes shut tight and a vein on his forehead popping out more than it should... His arms straight down on his side and his fists tight...

"Nobody at all, and this I believe was t-twelve to thirteen m-miles off..." Hinata said, the rain no longer making her feel joyous. She slowly began dragging her feet to where Sasuke was standing, waiting for her.

"WHAT THE HELL'S TAKING SO LONG?" Karin's voice was heard through the open door of the inn.

"Can you walk faster, I'm soaked..." Sasuke said, his voice beginning to shake a bit.

"Y-you can go in, S-Sasuke san, you don't need to wait..." Hinata said smiling a bit, but still walking at an amazingly slow speed...

"I'm not stupid... I know you want to escape... I'm not letting you out of my sight... You could go get your whole team to come after us, if I'm not careful" Sasuke replied, eyeing her with a frown... _Does she really expect me to trust her already?..._

"I-I wouldn't do that, I'm t-too weak to do that and besides... I really do want to help y-you... you have no idea how much..." Hinata said still looking down at the footsteps in front of her. She had finally reached them.

"Right" Sasuke said sounding as if he neither cared nor believed anything she said...

When she finally got in front of him was when he started following. They finally crossed the doorway and removed their shoes and replaced them for some fuzzy light blue slippers that looked as if they were made completely out of cotton. They carried their their shoes over to a shelf that was completely empty except for Karin's, Suigetsu's, Juugo's and some other shoes that probably belonged to other customers.

"Damn, what the hell took you so long... I already paid and this place is smaller than it looks" Karin said her hair still looking as drenched as when she was still outside.

"Meaning?" Sasuke asked, hoping that the pathetic inn wouldn't make them all share a single room. He looked at her with one brow arched up, the other tensed downward.

"Meaning two of us will have to share a room..." Karin said without even looking at them.

"I'm not sharing a bed" Juugo said immediately and quickly snatched one of the keys from Karin's hands. He then walked into a doorway, turned left and disappeared. Nobody tried stopping him. His size was pretty abnormal after all. Then they all slowly took their eyes off the doorway Juugo had disappeared into and looked back at each other.

"So who's sharing with who?" Karin asked, hoping she could spend the night with Sasuke. _Wow sleeping in the same bed as Sasuke, heehee..._

"Well, someone has to keep an eye on Hinata... and to be honest I don't trust either of you to watch her..." Sasuke said and he quickly snatched another one of the keys off Karin's hands. He then grabbed Hinata's hand and pulled her towards him, and they slowly made their way to the doorway, turned right and disappeared as well.

"Ugh, I guess I'm stuck with you then", Karin grumbled. She tightened her grip on the keys and began walking towards the doorway. "Well... are you coming?" Karin said looking back at Suigetsu.

"Mm" Suigetsu responded and slowly began to follow. He turned back to the innkeeper "Hey, do you have hot baths here?"

"Yes, just follow the signs" screamed the innkeeper who was already halfway out the doorway behind the counter.

"S-sasuke san... u-umm... I-I..." Hinata squeaked the moment she realized that there was only one bed in the bedroom. _I-I can't share beds with Sasuke san... I don't think i could even share beds with Naruto or Kiba or Shino... much less Sasuke... _Hinata thought as she began fiddling with her fingers. Her cheeks began to pink and her face began to fall...The room was small but comfortable. It had one queen sized bed, a small carpet outside the bathroom door, and a small writing desk to go along with a stool. _I-I can't ask him to sleep on the floor... Oh well I guess I'll just lay on the floor without saying anything..._

"What is it?" Sasuke asked. _Damn, she's annoying... I need to go take a bath or something before I catch a cold... _"Well,... what do you need?" Sasuke turned as he began to remove his black coat.

"Hnn... N-Nevermind..." Hinata said quietly when she heard his tone of voice...

"I'm going to the hot baths to relax for a while... so either you go into the girl side of the baths with Karin or you can go spend some time with Juugo... which sounds more appealing...?" Sasuke asked beginning to like the control he had over poor little Hinata. He could see her nervousness from a mile away without any special jutsu, and frankly he was beginning to enjoy her 'pushover' self from time to time.

"I-I... W-Well... I don't w-want to catch a cold..." Hinata responded doubtfully. She knew Karin wasn't going to be at all kind to her, but she was completely soaked and needed to let her clothes dry as well, so really she had no choice...

"Well, it's settled then..." he responded as cool as always and threw her the towel he was holding then retreated to the bathroom and came back with another one. He then made his way to the doorway and motioned for Hinata to follow... They walked down the narrow hallway wordlessly until they came to the end of a hallway with two doors, one on each side, a sign on each.

"Ok, the sign says you go that way, and I go this way, I'm pretty sure Karin is bathing so you should find her there... don't take too long or I'll go in and fetch you myself... that's a warning..." Sasuke looked at her with a serious expression and then turned his back to her and disappeared into the door that read 'Tonogata'.

_I guess I go in this other one... _Hinata thought still halfways afraid of how Karin might react to her... _Oh well... there's not much of a choice..._

She slowly began making her way inside, and then began to hurry as she recalled Sasuke's warning... She quickly grabbed a stool nearby and began to remove her clothes, then spread them out on the hangers so that the moisture in them would dry up.

The deeper into the baths she went the thicker the mist around her. It was so warm... She, without hesitation, sank into one of the springs... _sooo relaxing... I could fall asleep..._

"Oi!" Karin's voice made its way to Hinata's ears in the form of a whisper...

"Huh?" Hinata jumped up when she saw Karin's figure looming over her... "Ah... Konbanwa... Karin san..." Hinata tried to sound as polite as possible, hoping she wouldn't anger Karin.

"Ahh, Konnichiwa, Hinata san?" Karin said in a friendly tone before sinking into the water next to her. She sank until she was finally laying down with only her face poking out of the water and closed her eyes. She had removed her glasses, and her eyelashes were more noticeable now.

Hinata was at a loss of words, yet relieved. _Wow, she actually sounds as if she means it... What a weird group... _Hinata thought as she sank deeper into the water positioning herself to lay down as well.

"Um, Hinata, could you do me a favor?" Karin asked without opening her eyes and smiling.

"Of course..." Hinata replied. "What do you need, Karin san?" Hinata asked now feeling a little less nervous around the girl.

"My glasses. It's beginning to bother me how I can't see you at all clearly..." Karin said pointing towards one of the nearby stools.

"OK..." Hinata got up and began moving toward the stool that Karin was pointing to which contained a pair of glasses and a couple of bobby pins. Hinata gently took the glasses as if they were the most fragile thing in the world and began to retreat back to her bathing spot.

"Here you go Karin san.." Hinata offered and then slowly began to sink into the warm water once more.

"Thanks Hinata..." Karin said softly and then moved all her hair back and adjusted her glasses. She then wiped the lenses in order to clear them and then turned to Hinata. She then lay back down and faced forward.

"So... you like Sasuke or something?" Karin asked with her eyes closed and a smirk on her face.

"A-Ah I-I why would you ask m-me that?" _No! _The question caught Hinata offguard and her cheeks began to redden and not just because of the steam.

"Just wondering... I don't blame you... he's really hot... but unfortunately for you, he's not available" Karin said. She opened her eyes and faced Hinata with a serious expression.

"I- I al-already have someone th-that I like... and i-it isn't Sasuke san..." Hinata said her cheeks becoming even redder. _Not like she knows Naruto anyway, not like she has to know who I like..._

"Really? Who? Suigetsu? Hahaahaa!" Karin said and began to laugh nervously... _Why is that idea bothering me so much anyway... _Karin thought and got quiet staring into space...

"U-um no I meant s-someone back in Konoha..." Hinata responded, beginning to get depressed at the thought of her Naruto-kun... _I can't wait to see him... He'll be so happy when he sees me take Sasuke back to Konoha... of course I still have to talk Sasuke into going back, but Naruto-kun is worth it all..._

"Ahh I see... ehh whatever, just stay away from Sasuke cuz well, he and I have something going... we'll probably get married after he kills Itachi..." Karin said her eyes half shut, drool beginning to drip from her mouth. "Hehehe" _That would be so awesome..._

"Ahh... well I-I h-have to get going... Sasuke-s-san told me that if I took too long h-he would c-come in here and fetch me... Ja ne Karin san" Hinata said, got up and began to walk towards the shelves... She quickly pulled out a towel and wrapped it around her hair. Then she took another and began to dry her body. She put her clothes back on and made her way to the exit.

_What a strange girl..._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Hinata made her way slowly back to the room her and Sasuke were sharing. She wasn't in the baths anymore, so she didn't need to worry about him fetching her while she bathed anymore. There was no rush, especially when what awaited her was sleeping on the floor... Hinata thought gloomily. _Sasuke doesn't look like someone who will allow rests very often, and I'm gonna have to sleep on the floor..._

After walking into the wrong room a couple of times, Hinata finally found hers. She turned the knob and pulled. The door creaked a bit too noisily and then she peeked in to see if Sasuke was inside already. Her eyes were half closed hoping that if he was there, she wouldn't catch him changing or something, but to her relief, he was already on the bed, his eyes shut.

She smiled and looked at his face. _His face looks so innocent when his eyes aren't visible. _Hinata stood on the tips of her feet and made her way to the foot of the bed, where she lay down, using her coat as a pillow. _This isn't so bad..._

"What are you doing?" Sasuke's voice startled Hinata and she let out a squeal.

"S-Sasuke san I-I thought you were asleep, so I didn't w-want to wake you..." Hinata stammered while she sat up in a hurry. She looked at Sasuke and his 'innocence' was all gone.

"Hinata, I need you to listen to me." Sasuke said with his eyes shut again. Somehow he didn't look so nice this time.

"Mm" Hinata said looking at his regular expression.

"I don't trust you. At all. The point of having you here is so that I can keep watch on you. Do you know what keeping watch requires?" Sasuke said as he opened his eyes again and looked at her with no emotion.

"E-eto.." Hinata said setting her eyes down towards the floor. She couldn't, not in a million years, look at him without feeling nervous. His look was worse than her father's back when she was younger and a 'disgrace' as he put it.

"It requires that you stay within my sight." he said and gestured for her to come closer.

Hinata slowly approached him, fiddling with her fingers and making every gesture of insecurity known to mankind.

"Hinata, I know you're a very shy individual and don't want to share beds... but, frankly, I just don't care and I'll tell you now, Get Over It..."

Hinata nodded, a lump forming on her throat, and tears begining to swell on her eyes. _What an ..._

"You'll sleep on the bed right next to me..." his tone softened when he saw Hinata's eyes looking glassy. _Aww, shit... This is why I hate dealing with women during missions..._ Sasuke thought as he looked at Hinata slowly laying down next to him. Her back was facing him and she was completely silent. Her silence was actually bothering him. He would've given everything to get Ino and Sakura to shut up around him, and Hinata comes along and silence is all of a sudden so uncomfortable. She was so strange to him. She was annoying, just as any other girl had been, yet in a different way. The other girls were annoying because of how much they obsessed over him, and Hinata was annoying because of her inability to speak clearly with him. Her stuttering, her distance, her silence all bothered him.

He slowly took his eyes off her back, faced upward and shut his eyes.

When he reopened them to check on her, it was about two hours later. Hinata lay there with a soft glow of moonlight on her face, acting as a spotlight. There was a hint of a tear running down her cheek.

_Shit... was she really crying until a little while ago because of what I told her? Sheesh, it's not like if I said anything that horrible... _Sasuke thought feeling a bit guilty. He lay on his side supporting his upper body on his elbow and looked at her. Then, without realizing what he was doing, he reached over to her soft pink cheek and wiped away the tear. Then he froze.

_What the hell... What did I just do?_ Sasuke asked himself wide-eyed. He stayed in the same position for a while and then dismissed it thinking that it was the guilt washing over him. Why else would he do it, after all, he didn't care at all for the girl. _Ehh, whatever, I got more important things to worry about right now._ Sasuke thought and rested his head against the pillow finally shutting his eyes for the night.

Sasuke's eyes fluttered open the next morning. For a while he stared lazily at the ceiling then remembered where he was and what his objective was. Unfortunately, he also remembered that his team hadn't come up with any genious plan to finally catch up to Itachi either. _Damnit... The whole point of staying here was worthless... We seriously need to get thinking..._ Sasuke thought as he sat up and yawned. _At least it's not raining..._ He thought when he looked out the window. Again, he yawned and then looked to his right..._ What the hell? Hinata? That bitch...Where'd she go?!!_

Sasuke jolted straight up and ran outside. A million thoughts went through his head as he ran outside his room and towards Karin and Suigetsu's room. _Naruto and his whole damn click are probably headed over here right now... I can't win against Kakashi and all the rest...They'll take me back to Konoha and I know I'm going to face some serious punishment... Damnit! _

"Where the hell is she?" Sasuke practically screamed at Karin while standing in the doorway.

"I dunno..." Karin shrugged as calm as can be.

"Heh... looks like someone overestimated their surveillance skills... and underestimated ours" Suigetsu snickered at Sasuke.

"Shut the hell up and help me find her" Sasuke yelled again not appreciating Suigetsu's sense of humor at a time like that.

"OK, OK... " Suigetsu said and put his hands up in defeat, not wanting to piss off the Uchiha genious, as they all liked to call him. He was grinning the whole time.

Karin scoffed and slowly walked after Suigetsu and then both disappeared into the lobby of the inn. Sasuke then ran over to Juugo's room only to find an empty room. _Maybe he went after her already..._ Sasuke stopped running and began walking down the hallway, feeling a bit more reassured now that three ninjas had gone after her, two for sure. _And Karin can sense chakra so I should be fine... Then again Karin didn't really seem like she liked her one bit... Dammit! Just one ninja that is surely after her..._

He began walking a bit faster, and pretty soon he broke into a jog. He reached the porch and paused for a minute acknowledging how busy this runned down town was during the day..._ Shit... This is going to be tougher than I thought..._ Sasuke thought as he finally stepped off the inn grounds and into the crowd.

He hadn't ran for even five minutes when he spotted a girl with dark blue hair and a white cape. _Hinata... You're gonna get it you traitor... (laugh at the hipocrisy)..._ He thought as he pushed violently through the crowd. Hinata was walking away and she seemed to be in a hurry. _Oh no you dont... _Sasuke grabbed her shoulder and violently turned her over.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?"

Hinata turned around to face an angry Sasuke with his sharingan activated... "Ahh... S-Sasuke-san, I-I was t-trying to find some food to eat l-later today..." Hinata stuttered out when she saw his face and acknowledged the stare of a couple of passerbys.

"You're lying, you were in a hurry to get away from here, I just saw you, Dammit! Do I look like an idiot??" Sasuke asked still furious and completely ignoring everyone around them.

"S-Sasuke-san. P-please stop... p-people are staring..." Hinata said unable to look him in the eyes any longer, her voice trembling.

Sasuke looked back for a half second then turned back around to face Hinata and roughtly grabbed her hand, practically dragging her back towards the inn. Once they were in their room again, he shut the door and motioned for her to sit down. Hinata, at that moment resembled a little girl who had gotten in trouble with her parents. She slowly walked toward the bed, face down and sat down.

When he turned to look at her was when he saw her holding a small bag full of comestibles...

_Awww... shit... Now what? No way I'll apologize... I'll just get mad at her anyway for getting out of my sight..._

"Look Hinata, I can't allow you to become an inconvinience, I have enough of those already... What you just made me go through was an inconvenience, so I'm going to have to ask you not to get away from my range of vision until I say it's fine... which won't be anytime soon, at the rate we're going..."

"Why do you hate your brother so much?" Hinata thought out loud and looked up at Sasuke in fear once she realized it.

"None of your business..." Sasuke responded.

"I-I'm sorry, S-sasuke-san... I-I just b-b--" Hinata tried to explain.

"It's fine... Now are you going to obey?" Sasuke said turning away from her.

"Mmm" Hinata nodded, still facing down.

He looked at her for a bit longer, satisfied with her response.

"Stay here. I'll be back shortly" he said calmly and walked out the door slamming it.

Hinata, meanwhile was trying to fight back the tears. She felt guilty for trying to pry into Sasuke's history, and also for leaving when she knew she wasn't supposed to... She would have to be more obedient from now on. Having Sasuke lecturing her was definately something she wasn't looking forward to...

"Where were you?" Sasuke said to Juugo when he saw him walking inside the building.

"I was helping Hinata out on picking food in the market... but I lost her..." Juugo responded, never halting.

"I found her. Have you seen Suigetsu or Karin?"

"No... Would you like for me to go look for them? Are we leaving anytime soon?" Suigetsu asked finally meeting Sasuke's gaze.

"Yes and yes."

Sasuke stared at Juugo as he walked back toward the exit and walked out. Then he sighed and began walking back to where Hinata was.

"Do you have all your things ready?" he asked Hinata as he stopped next to the doorway and leaned against the wall. "We leave when Juugo and the others return."

"Hai." Hinata said. She didn't have anything at all with her other than her clothes and some shinobi tools. She also had that small bag of food she had been shopping for earlier. Hinata just sat there, unable to say anything to him, and began fiddling with her fingers.

_What is she doing? Why is she always so nervous around me? Dammit when she does find Itachi she's not going to have the courage to tell me... I need to make her feel more relaxed around me, or she's going to be more a bother than anything close to useful... But what can I say... I'm not exactly social... _Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted by his stomach growling.

"A-are you hungry, Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked looking up at him. "I-I bought a c-couple of pre-made riceballs, i-if you want..." Hinata offered and began digging through the bag and finally pulling out a container. She looked up at him waiting for his response.

Sasuke's eyes were shut, and he just nodded and began walking toward the bed. He sat down next to Hinata and held out his hand. He was crying on the inside considering how stupid he probably looked.

Hinata simply handed him a napkin and then placed a riceball on top. Sasuke stared at it for a while and began eating.

"I-I can ask the innkeeper i-if I can borrow a teakettle, if y-you want... that is..." Hinata said facing a puffy-cheeked Sasuke, who shook his head no. _Was he really that hungry... _"OK, then..." Hinata said trying to hold back a giggle. She was trying not to laugh at Sasuke's current face.

Sasuke chewed for a while and finally swallowed it all in one gulp..._ Maybe that tea would've been a good idea..._ Then he turned to face her.

She was facing down with a small, almost invisible smile on her face. _This reminds me of Naruto-kun when he would go to Ichiraku-san's place... Naruto-kun..._

When she noticed Sasuke was looking at her, she blushed. "G-gomenasai, S-Sasuke-san, d-did you want m-more?" Hinata stuttered and held out the open container which held about eleven more riceballs.

"No, that's fine..." Sasuke responded.

"Hinata", Hinata looked up at Sasuke and then almost immediately looked back down.

"Hinata... I need you to look at me when I'm talking to you..." Hinata looked up, tears beginning to swell on her eyes._ He sounds so much like father... I'm always disappointing everyone...and now, I actually feel like I miss my father... _Hinata thought and looked down again...

"I-I-I'm sorry S-Sasuke-san... I-I j-just. Y-you sounded l-like o-otoosan..." Hinata said with much difficulty.

Sasuke's expression softened, as well as his tone "Hinata, it's fine, you don't need to apologize so much... and you don't need to call me Sasuke-san either..." He paused for a moment and put his hand on her chin tilting her head up to face him and looked at her teary looking eyes. He retreated his hand and continued talking, still looking at her.

"Look, I need you to understand that I'm not going to bite your head off. You can look at me when you direct me. I need you to feel a bit less nervous around me, because, frankly you're becoming quite bothersome to deal with. You need to cooperate with the team and bear with it until this is all over, understood?" Sasuke asked never shifting his gaze from her. _Heh, she actually looked at me throughout the whole speech... _

"H-hai, I-I'm sorry, Sasuke-sa-Sasuke..." Hinata said nervously and smiled. "I-I promise I won't be an i-interference any more..." she said slowly and began to look down. However, she caught herself and looked Sasuke in the eyes again.

_Damn, females are harder to deal with than anything I've ever encountered... _"Good..." he said as he stood up and motioned for her to follow. In the hallway, they ran into Juugo, Karin and Suigetsu, Karin immediately began giving death glares.

"Where the hell were you?" she demanded waving a fist in the air.

"A-ano... K-kar---"

"Karin, shut up..." Sasuke said with his eyes shut. "Let's get moving then, and say goodbye to beds and baths because I don't know if we'll be seeing them again anytime soon. Suigetsu, did you buy a tent at least, from now on any stops we make might have to be campouts..."

"Yup... right here..." Suigetsu said waving a medium sized package in the air.

"Good, then... Let's get moving" Sasuke said and walked out the door. Everyone followed. Hinata at a quicker pace hoping to keep her distance from Karin, who was giving her even deadlier glares after being shut up by her Sasuke. Suigetsu was smiling the whole time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Ugh, we've been walking for hours!" Karin complained dragging her feet on the floor.

"We're never going to find Itachi!" she continued for what seemed like forever. The whole time Sasuke ignored her, as did everyone else. They had no leads. There was nothing any of them could do anymore and the day was quickly turning into night.

Sasuke paused and everyone else did after. He glanced up at the sky and then turned to Hinata. "When was the last time you checked the parameter?"

"U-uh... I'd say about... eight to... seven hours ago... and the distance around was about ten miles." Hinata said trying her best not to stutter, the whole time she had looked Sasuke in the face as well... She was becoming a bit less nervous around him now, which was definitely going to help her talk to him about going back to Konoha.

"Check it again."

"Hai. Byakugan!" _Hmmm... No one north of here...west...east... south... all clear... _"No one is... within a radius of about ten miles... "

"Good. Then Suigetsu, set up the tents... how many did you get?" Sasuke asked hoping his stupid companion had thought of getting at least three.

"Three... One for Juugo alone and the other two, well you decide who shares..." Suigetsu said.

"I don't care..." Sasuke said matter-of-factly.

"Can I share with you Sasuke!??!" Karin practically screamed in his ear...

_Oww…_

"No... You're way too loud... I either share with Suigetsu or Hinata... Who would you like to share with between those two...?" Sasuke asked Karin without looking at her.

"I'm not sharing with her..." Karin said giving Hinata a once-over. "But I don't like Suigetsu either, dammit!" Karin said and put her hands on her hips while pointing at Suigetsu, who was setting up the tents. Hinata had joined him and they were about done.

"Your problem, not mine..." Sasuke said coldly to imply that the conversation was over.

Hinata approached Sasuke. "S-sasuke-san, I-I d-don't mind sh-sharing with Suigetsu-kun..." She said with her head down and looking down at her fingers.

_Kun? Why am I San again, when Suigetsu's kun?..._ "I'm not sharing with her..." he said and started slowly walking toward one of the tents.

"Heh, yeah with Karin's hormones, she'd prolly rape Sasuke in his sleep" Suigetsu smirked and looked at Karin.

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU ANIMAL!!!!!" Karin yelled and then punched him in the face, which exploded in the form of water. She then looked over at Hinata, grabbed Suigetsu by his arm, and dragged him toward another tent. Suigetsu's face was reforming and Hinata was staring with wonder... _Incredible... They're all so unusual... _she thought and then walked over to the tent Sasuke had entered. She slowly removed her cape, folded it and lay her head on top of it. The layer of grass was thick beneath the tent floor, so it was actually pretty comfortable to lay on it. Sasuke was lying facedown and facing the other way.

"O-Oyasuminasai, Sasuke-san.." Hinata said and lay on her side. She put both hands under the 'pillow' and shut her eyes.

"Why do you call me that?" Sasuke asked out of nowhere. His voice sounded monotone, as usual.

"Huh? C-call you what?"

"Sasuke-san. You don't have to be so formal with me...We already had this conversation and I _did_ order Suigetsu to kidnap you... I'd understand if you referred to me as 'kisama'."

"I-I'd never do that!" Hinata squeaked and turned around to face his back.

Sasuke then turned to face her and asked "Why not? You don't know me. You're way too kind, you'll be in trouble for it one day."

"I-I just know how I-I'd like to be treated, so th-that's how I act towards other people." Hinata replied, not looking at him anymore.

"Regardless of who they are?"

"Mmhmm.." Hinata nodded, still looking down towards her feet. All his sudden questioning was making her uneasy again.

"Heh, I though you were trying to stop stuttering, and again, you don't look at me when I'm talking. Do I still make you that uncomfortable?" He didn't really care, but he was curious to know why she had hit it off with Suigetsu so easily. To the point of calling him Suigetsu-kun.

"N-no..." Hinata lied. She had always been a people pleaser and she didn't think she could ever change, at least not without Naruto-kun's help. He was always so bold. Always stating what was on his mind. That was probably the main reason Hinata was so fascinated by him.

"Please be honest..." Sasuke said looking at her unusual eyes. They were pure white. They represented everything associated to light and good, yet now they showed sadness and uncertainty. His, on the contrary, were black when unactivated, and red when activated. They represented everything associated to darkness and evil, and yet they showed curiosity towards the girl. She was different from anyone he had met, then again, everyone he had met was obsessed with him and were all way too noisy. He wasn't sure how Hinata felt towards him. Suigetsu had said that she cried when she thought she lost Sasuke back there, but she didn't act as infatuated as every other girl around him. It felt like she liked him not for his pretty boy looks, but for something else, something Sasuke didn't understand what it was. After all, she barely knew him, so it couldn't be the whole personality thing, he didn't have a great personality either, and he knew it. He could easily be referred to as an asshole. That's just the way he had been since then… He didn't really have friends, other than Naruto and maybe Sakura. Naruto's friendship, however, had started off from hatred and jealousy, and Sakura only liked him at first for his good looks, to an extremely pathetic level.

"U-uh... m-maybe.. a bit..." Hinata finally responded and looked up at him. She wanted to get used to his presence. She didn't have much of a choice. _Better let it out now…_

Sasuke smiled at her answer. "Thanks for the honesty." He said not averting his gaze from her eyes.

Hinata blushed and apologized. "G-gomen, Sasuke..." then she looked down again. _Great…_

"Tell me why." _Heh, she didn't call me Sasuke-san..._

"..." Hinata was silently looking down at her feet once again. _Why does he have to make it so hard... if I can't even tell him why I feel uncomfortable towards him, how do I expect to be able to talk him into going back to Konoha? I suppose I have no choice but to solve it all here. Do it for Naruto-kun..._

"U-uh... Sasuke... I-I suppose I f-feel uncomfortable with y-you because... well..." She looked at Sasuke who was looking at her intensely. _Gulp. Keep going, he's not going to bite you... _"Uu-uh... y-your eyes... s-scare me..." she finished and immediately shut her eyes tight... _Great job... that came out great... I'm such an idiot... your eyes scare me? That sounds so mean..._

"... ..." _My eyes scare her?... Why do I all of a sudden feel like grabbing a mirror and looking at them...? Damn you, Hinata... you're so...hmm...weird?..._ Why couldn't she be as easy to read as everyone else? But, in a way, he knew he liked it that way... She was the one girl that he knew would care for him as just a friend, nothing else. Unlike all the other girls.

Hinata opened her eyes and looked at Sasuke who's eyes looked so perplexed... Hinata smiled... _He looks so funny when he's not serious..._

"What's so funny?" Sasuke asked with the same confused eyes...

"N-nothing" Hinata said still holding a smile and still looking at him.

"Why do my eyes scare you?" he asked.

Hinata's smile faded and she looked down again. "I-I w-well I guess, i-it's because th-they usually look c-cold and... emotionless...??" Hinata sounded more as if she was asking a question, rather than stating a thought... _That sounds so stupid... but, it's true..._

For some reason, this angered Sasuke a bit... _What does she mean... Haven't I been nice to her the whole time she's been with us... _He frowned and simply stated, "well your eyes are annoying."

Hinata's eyes widened and she looked at his face for a split second. Then she immediately turned around to her other side, facing away from him. "I-I'm sorry..." she said and closed her eyes. _Why does he think my eyes are annoying... Oh well, I just wont look at him anymore... _Hinata thought. She never was the persistent type who liked pissing people off. If her eyes bothered him, then she would just make sure he never had to see them again.

_I'm sorry??? Why is she apologizing?? Isn't she going to argue back? _"Aren't you gonna ask why?"

"No." Hinata said still not facing him. She really wasn't interested in his answer, she had her own 'pushover' way of fixing things.

Sasuke was taken aback by her response. "Aren't you curious as to why I think that way about your eyes?" _I want to tell her why... I want her to fix it... She's such an idiot… What's wrong with her…? _

"..." Hinata didn't respond... She didn't want to talk to him anymore. He made her feel worse than her father, and she felt a knot in her throat. She felt like crying, but she wouldn't let herself anymore.

"Don't ignore me Hinata." Sasuke said, his voice a bit louder than before.

"P-please... just leave me alone... I won't look at you... anymore i-if my eyes b-bother you..." She responded still not looking at him. Tears were beginning to roll down her cheeks. _I'm such a damn weakling... why?_

"..." _Damn it... I didn't mean it that way... Why the hell do I feel bad?? She's the hostage here. Why is she bending to everyone's will? I won't apologize... or should I? Well, I got her to talk, more like forced her to talk... it's only fair... and again, her uneasiness around me will only hinder the process of finding Itachi... or Konoha shinobi._

"H-Hinata..." _What the fuck? Did I just stutter?_ Sasuke blinked three times and wore a confused expression… His face felt like it was getting hot.

_Huh? Did I just hear him stutter? _Hinata was wondering if she had heard right... "Hmm..?" she said and turned her head around a bit.

"I-ugh... I'm sorry... ... ... " Sasuke's face looked troubled, and this time he was the one looking at his feet. _She got me to say I'm sorry in just two days that she's been traveling with us... _He felt like he hated her. _I'm seriously going to kill you Itachi... I'm not putting up with this for nothing..._

Hinata blinked twice and turned over fully to face him. She giggled when she saw his expression, and this time she didn't stop herself. The look he was wearing was so... cute...

Sasuke just stared at her... _She's laughing at me..._ His eyes were wide... His expression looked horrified.

"I-I'm sorry." Hinata finally stopped and looked at him again.

"Why were you laughing at me?" Sasuke demanded like an angry toddler. His eyebrows tensed.

"N-nothing... I-I'm sorry..." she said and turned back around to finally shut her eyes. "Oyasumi." He made her feel so many emotions in such a short moment, and it confused her. All of a sudden she began to understand why Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan were so desperate to retreat him. She knew that Sasuke wasn't always heartless, even after enduring whatever it is that caused his grudge toward his brother, even now, he showed signs of kindness now and then. They were just so subtle and disappeared almost immediately.

Sasuke wanted to ask why she had been laughing at him, but he decided he would sound too childish if he persisted and dismissed the idea. He then faced up and shut his eyes for the night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"S-sasuke…" Hinata whispered gently pressing Sasuke's right shoulder with her finger.

Everyone had woken up and had left it up to her to wake Sasuke, since it seemed he was nicer to her than to everyone else in the group. Suigetsu was usually treated like an idiot, Karin was just really annoying to him, although a valuable comrade, and Juugo was never spoken to.

_Awww… come on… wake up…. …. Please…? _Hinata kept gently poking his side. She was beginning to worry. It didn't seem like Sasuke would be the one keeping everyone waiting, but this was the second time during their travels together that he had made them all wait.

"Sasuke-saaaannnnn…. Please wake up….?"

It seemed like no matter how often she would whisper his name, he wouldn't wake. She knew the others had done this on purpose. They knew she would never speak too loudly to Sasuke, and all because of her lack of guts. She had none. Suigetsu was waiting right outside the tent Hinata and Sasuke were in, sitting on the floor and resting his back on a tree. He was giggling at how incredibly polite Hinata was. She would never talk to anyone too loudly or poke anyone hard enough to wake them up. At the same time, he felt bad for the girl. She was pitiful. Cute, but pitiful nonetheless.

_In about two to three minutes more, I'll help her out…_ Suigetsu thought smirking and eyeing a helpless Hinata.

Karin was sitting not too far behind Suigetsu, packing up the tents and some fruit that Juugo had picked out with the help of some animals he could communicate with. He was also sitting there, except he was doing nothing, _but_ sitting there.

Hinata rolled her eyes and sighed. _How long is he going to take? _

She looked over at Suigetsu from inside the tent with a forced smile that read '_Please…'_

Suigetsu merely shook his head no, leaned forward and replied. "Come ooooooooooon, I agreed to put away you all's tent for you, if _you_ woke him up… I mean, I _definitely _would not want a bed-ridden Uchiha after me… Now would I?" Suigetsu's smile only spread wider… He knew that Hinata would never tell him to shut up and wake him up already, or anything close to that manner. He knew she would only turn back around and softly poke and whisper Sasuke's name some more. _This is too funnnnn….. _Suigetsu thought as he leaned against the tree once more.

"B-but, Suigetsu-kun, I-I don't want an angry bed-ridden Sasuke-san after me either…." Hinata replied, not too loud, but loud enough for Suigetsu to hear…

_This girl's too much… _Suigetsu thought and leaned back further to rest his head on the tree.

"I wouldn't worry too much… he seems to like you a bit more than any of us…" Suigetsu said still smiling, flashing his shark-teeth and shutting his eyes. His hands were behind his head and he was slouched lazily on the forest floor and using a tree as back support.

Hinata blushed at his comment. _If he likes me better than these guys and he treats me like that, then how does he treat everyone else?_ Hinata wondered again looking at Sasuke. He was laying down on his side and Hinata was standing on her knees looking down at him…

"HE DOES NOT, YOU IDIOT!!!" Karin screamed at him. She had stopped putting stuff in her bag and was currently sitting atop a rock and holding an apple in one hand, and some berries in the other.

"Oh really? Then who does he like the best? Cuz I can guarantee that it's definitely not you…" Suigetsu said facing her and his grin widening more and more by the second.

"WHY YOU----" Karin was interrupted by Sasuke's yawning.

"S-Sasuke-s--- Sasuke… you're awake" Hinata said now sitting with her legs bent in under her. She was already looking up at Sasuke, who had stood up and was still yawning. She put her head down, ashamed that she had almost, again, called him Sasuke-san.

He merely looked down at her and stepped out of the tent.

Everyone was staring at him.

"Ohayo, Sasuke!" Karin smiled uneasily and looked his way.

Sasuke looked at her for a while and frowned. "Why are you always soo damn loud?" he said rudely and began to stretch his arms.

"Hinata, do a quick surveillance of the area and Suigetsu, put up the last tent." Sasuke said with his eyes shut, apparently not caring a bit for keeping them waiting for so long.

Both Hinata and Suigetsu nodded, and Suigetsu got to work disarming the tent.

"Byakugan." Hinata said and began to turn to all directions. Then she shut her eyes and shook her head. "We're safe…"

Sasuke merely looked at her for a second and then turned to Suigetsu with a frown… Obviously, he was getting impatient with how fast Suigetsu was working. Which wasn't fast at all.

"Can you hurry up?" Sasuke said impatiently, tossing his black cape to Karin in order for her to put it away.

"I'll h-help…" Hinata said timidly and rushed over to Suigetsu's side and began helping him with putting the tent down.

"Awwww… Hinata, you're such a sweetie…" Suigetsu said smiling at her with his eyes shut.

Hinata blushed as she got on her knees and began folding the tent in order to fit it into the bag.

"I-I d-don't mind Suigetsu-kun…" Hinata said still blushing.

Sasuke was just looking at them both with an indifferent expression on his face. He wondered how it was so easy for this girl to get along with Suigetsu, and yet still be so distant to him (A/N: when it says 'him' it's referring to Sasuke, heh it just sounded weird to me). I mean the point of her being here was for her to help him, not that stupid piranha-wannabe. He hated to admit it, but it hurt his pride. He had always been able to make _any_ girl open up to him, in more ways than one without even asking, not that he ever took advantage of it, and this stupid one comes along and gets along better with a fish look-alike than with him. He never really liked the attention, in fact there were times when he seriously wanted to strangle each and every one of his fan girls, yet it made him feel good about himself. It fed on his pride. And this pushover of a girl comes along and his pride feels like its been starved to death.

"YOU GUYS COULD WORK A LOT FASTER IF YOU WOULD STOP FLIRTING!!!" Karin screamed out, holding her glasses in place so that they wouldn't fall off with all the commotion she was making.

"MIND YOUR OWN GODDAMM BUSINESS, KARIN!!!" Suigetsu turned around to face her, still on his knees, his fist tight in front of him.

"Y-you guys… p-please…" Hinata tried to make them stop arguing.

"Well, what the hell's her fucking problem. Was I flirting with you Hinata? Hmmm??" Suigetsu was eyeing Hinata curiously waiting for her response.

"Tell him, Hinata, tell him that you don't like his flirting. That you'll never respond to it. Tell him you don't want him in any way…" Karin said standing up crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her too eyeing Hinata with anxiety. _She __better__ not want him in any way…_

"A-ano… I-I… well… I-I d-don't like you-rrr flirting-…. ----- I mean , I-I…. e-eto…. Uh… that is…" Hinata was beginning to feel dizzy, she didn't think Suigetsu was flirting with her, but she was scared of Karin-chan…. She felt her face begin to heat up incredibly.

"SEE, YOU HEARD HER, SHE DOESN'T LIKE IT!!!!"

"SHE'S JUST SCARED OF YOU AND YOUR DISGUSTING TEMPER!!!"

"OH YEAH????!!!!!"

"Guys…" Sasuke spoke up quietly, looking down at the floor.

Hinata turned to him and was astonished at how softly he spoke and yet got everyone's attention in a flash. Even Juugo had opened his eyes to look at him.

"…. That's enough…" He said calmly.

Karin and Suigetsu had turned to face him and had gone quiet, except for the long, harsh breaths they were taking in because of their yelling. Then they looked at each other, receiving each others death glares, of course, and then faced away from each other and headed off in opposite ways. Suigetsu went to finish up whatever was left of the tent to pack and then threw it in Karin's way. Karin quickly stuffed it in the bag and handed the bag to Juugo, who placed it over his shoulder.

"Are we done then?" Sasuke asked and then began walking. He seemed so confident for someone who had no idea where he should go next.

Despite the fact that Sasuke had no idea where to search, everyone followed him, no questions asked. They all jumped into the trees and began jumping from branch to branch.

"Juugo, have the animals told you anything that could help us out?" Sasuke asked loud enough to make sure Juugo could hear without having to face him.

"Only where some of the Akatsuki's previous hideouts are located, but they say there's nothing there now." Juugo said without slowing down.

"Nothing about them seeing any Akatsuki members?"

"No." Juugo responded and released his grip on a little bird he had been holding.

"That's too bad, I'm really itching for a fight with that Kisame guy…" Suigetsu said with a bored tone.

"I wouldn't be in a hurry to fight any Akatsuki member." Karin responded.

Hinata just followed Sasuke right beside Suigetsu. She maintained silence the whole time. _Something doesn't feel right… _Hinata thought with unease and activated her Byakugan. She then looked around and…._What? _A trace of chakra appeared and disappeared as soon as it had come. _What was that? W-was someone there?_

As if she had read her mind, Karin stopped suddenly and stood on one of the branches.

"K-Karin-san… wh-what is it…?" Hinata stopped in the tree right in front of the one Karin was standing on.

"What happened?" demanded Sasuke, who had headed back and was now standing beside Hinata.

"I thought I picked up an unfamiliar chakra… but, I guess it was just my imagination." Karin said, holding a finger against the center of her glasses.

"Your imagination, huh?" Suigetsu said crouched down on the branch just ahead Hinata's.

_It wasn't your imagination…I think… _Hinata wanted to say… but she couldn't' bring herself to do it… After all, she had barely seen anything. It was just too fast to be real.

"Hmmm… well let's keep going then, this is my most important mission, so there's no giving up… I don't care how long it takes…" Sasuke said eyeing a nervous-looking Hinata. He chose to ignore it however, and he continued jumping again from branch to branch.

Everyone merely nodded in response, and took off after him.

"Sooooo, Hinata…." Suigetsu began looking at Hinata who was beginning to perspire at how long they had been doing this nonstop. It had been approximately three to five hours and they hadn't even stopped to eat anything, much less to rest. It was honestly beginning to become boring for the males, who had a lot more stamina in them than the girls did.

"Hmm?" Hinata turned to face him and offered him a gentle smile. Her face was completely red and there were sweat drops beginning to form all over her face. It's a wonder how she hadn't had a heat stroke in that huge jacket she always wore. That and she was wearing the white cape that had been worn by Team Kakashi.

"Do you miss your friends?" Suigetsu asked innocently smiling at her. He didn't mean to make her feel bad, but he knew that her friends were probably extremely worried about her. I mean the girl had no stamina whatsoever, and her special abilities' effect was retarded.

The question caught Hinata by surprise, but she still answered him almost immediately. "Hmm… yes, o-of course I do."

"So, if you could, would you return to them right at this very moment?" Suigetsu asked, his face had become serious as he continued looking at her.

Unbeknownst to her, everyone, at this point was listening in, not so much because they cared for the girl, but because they were bored. They hadn't found any leads and they were running around aimlessly.

_Heh, she's probably going to lie and say that she'd rather help me first. She's probably not as stupid as she looks… That whole sweet girl thing was probably all just an act. _Sasuke thought without turning. He was still in the lead and like everyone else, he had no idea where he was going.

"… N-no… I have new… goals now, for n-now… …" She said uneasily and looking down.

"And…. What are they???" Suigetsu seemed very into the conversation and the longer it kept going the less probability that he would stop.

"U-ummmm….. W-well I…." Hinata stuttered and blushed. _Why won't he stop? Is he trying to embarrass me? Sasuke-san knows Naruto-kun and I don't want him to know how I feel towards him. Maybe I'll just say that I want to protect all my friends._

Suigetsu was still staring straight at her with much intensity. He wasn't really doing it because of her, he was merely doing it because he loved to tease her. She blushed so easily. She stuttered all the time. It was like her regular speech, and it never seemed to get any better.

"Well??" Suigetsu kept poking at it, laughing hysterically on the inside.

"I-I want to protect m-my friends…" Hinata responded uneasily. She was never a good liar, and today was no exception. But she stuttered all the time anyway, so nobody would ever know. That was the one and only reason Hinata was glad she stuttered.

"Ahh… I see… and helping us is going to protect them?" He continued eyeing her with a huge grin.

"I-I…" Hinata said out of breath. This was definitely becoming too much for her. There was the fact that they hadn't rested or eaten anything throughout an exceptionally big period of time. She felt like she was about to faint.

"Suigetsu, leaver her alone already, dammit, it's hard enough for her to breath and you keep making her talk!!!" Karin said, practically screaming.

"Shit! Sasuke! How much longer are you going to torture us!?!?!" she continued and faced Sasuke. Apparently, she was tired as well and seriously needed a break already.

For once, Hinata was glad she had spoken. It seemed that Karin, although she would constantly bother Hinata or try to make her feel bad, she would also talk exactly when Hinata needed it.

Sasuke looked back at her and the rest of the group.

"Do you sense any chakra anywhere? Anything that would point to a town?" Sasuke said as he halted.

"No… Anyway, I'm too tired, I wouldn't feel it even if there was a town a foot away from us…" Karin said with her legs bent and arms resting on her knees. She was gasping for air and her hair was dripping with sweat.

"Hmmm…. Well I guess we'll just have to sleep here then…" Sasuke said as cool as ever. He looked nothing even close to tired.

"WHAT?!! YOU MEAN THERE WONT BE A BATH???" Karin yelled, as usual holding her glasses in place.

"Well, you obviously can't feel anything, so there's not much of a choice…" Sasuke responded without looking at her.

"I-I can look ar-around I-if you'd like…" Hinata offered panting. Her words came out between breaths. She was leaning against the bark of a tree and Suigetsu was looking at her as if he was making fun of her frailness.

"Well, hurry up and do it." Sasuke responded coldly. _What the hell is she? Obviously we need all the help we can get…_

After flinching at Sasuke's tone, muttering the word Byakugan and looking around, Hinata looked up and shook her head.

"No… S-sorry…. " Hinata said and put her head down…

"Can't be helped then…" Suigetsu said and jumped off the branch he had been standing on. It was dark already, and it was about time for them to call it a day… or at least rest for a while. Despite the urgency of the mission Sasuke knew that without any leads, all their effort was futile. Besides, their future opponents were nothing less than S ranked criminals. They were going to need all the rest they could get.

Karin put her head down in defeat… _Dammit! I feel so damn sweaty… Ugh it's probably going to get sticky in a bit…_

"How-ever… I d-did spot a small spring not too far off." Hinata added finally putting her head up after catching her breath.

"YAY!!! WHAT'S SAY WE GO NOW!?!?!?! NE, HINATA??? YOU CAN COME TOO IF YOU WANT, SASUKEEEE!!!" Karin was squealing with joy.

"S-sure…" Hinata looked at Karin and smiled nervously.

"I'LL GO!!!" Suigetsu screamed from where he was standing and jumped up to join them…

"Well, let's go then!" Karin said, still awfully cheerful.

"Really????? I get to bathe with you and Hinata-chan????" Suigetsu asked. His eyes had tripled in size and had stars decorating the whole inside. Drool had begun to drip from the tip of his mouth and he was emitting a colorful glow.

"NOT!!!! YOU FUCKING PERVERT!!" Karin said and punched him in the face. Then she turned to face Sasuke, removed her glasses and added, "I don't mind _you_ tho, Sasuke-kuuuuuunnnnn."

"Okay." He responded without looking at anyone, and instead looking down at the floor.

Gasp "Really???" Karin couldn't believe her ears. She was going to bathe with Sasuke… She was going to see him the way he was created…. Naked. It seemed too good to be true. And it was.

"No… You girls will bathe now. We will set up the tents and wait for you two to finish… Don't keep us waiting forever." He said and finally jumped off the tree and down to Juugo's side who had begun to unpack the tents… Suigetsu was right beside him, knocked out.

"Ehh… let's go then?" Karin said looking discouraged and, once again, tired.

"Mmhmm…" Hinata responded and activated her Byakugan. Then she began jumping to a bunch of trees to the east. For some reason, she felt uneasy about bathing again with Karin.

"Lead the way then" Karin said and began following Hinata towards the spring.

(A/N: Sorry for the abrupt end of this chapter, but I thought I was making it too long… hehe… next chapter will be the scene in the spring, please review!)


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Hinata had sunk into the water until it reached the bottom of her nose. Her arms were crossed in front of her, covering her cleavage and she was blushing while looking down.

Karin was sitting there dumbfounded. Hinata had the biggest boobs she had ever seen. She wasn't even trying to make her stare a bit less noticeable. She had sunk into the water as well. _I wonder how old she is... probably Sasuke's age. Those are huge... Why the hell would she cover them up?_

"H-How i-isss the w-wat-ter... Karin-chan?" Hinata asked nervously and stupidly, barely sticking her mouth out of the water. _How's the water?... I'm in it... She probably thinks I'm retarded. _

"Mmm... uhhh... fine I guess. Hinata, you have big boobs." Karin said finally breaking the stare and shutting her eyes leaning back on the edge of the spring.

"U-uhh... o-okay..." Hinata said, her face heating up even more. Once she realized that Karin had shut her eyes her face begun to whiten again and she relaxed her arms more to the side. She then sighed and leaned back as well.

She knew it was going to be awkward bathing with Karin again, but she just couldn't bring herself to be rude and leave. Then, just as that thought came up Karin stood up, completely naked. Hinata looked up at her and looked away almost immediately. Once she had seen Naruto with his pants down (everything else on) and she had began to panic and blush insanely (the fillers lol) . Hinata still definitely felt awkward around naked bodies, even if they were female. "Ehh... this spring sucks. It's cold. No relaxing in here, but at least I'm sweat-free..." She looked down at Hinata.

"Well you can keep bathing if you want, but I'm out of here. Later!" she said zipping up her jacket and waved as she left.

_Hmmm... I can at least relax now, at least for a little while... _Hinata thought relieved and shut her eyes and against her will, fell asleep. When she finally woke up again, it was about an hour later, and it had been with a start. _Oh no... Sasuke's going to kill me... I have no idea how long I've been here... _She thought as she jumped up and out of the water. She ran to a nearby tree where she had hung her clothes and violently yanked them off the branches. _Need to hurry... _She thought nervously as she put on her clothes carelessly and ran back to where the tents were.

"S-sorry" she gasped bending her legs a bit and pressing her arms against them, catching her breath.

"I-I fell asleep... I-I d-didn't mean to..." she said looking up at Sasuke who was sitting outside a tent looking at her with a tense expression. Suigetsu was next to him, grinning widely.

"No prob, Hinata. I guess we men will go now." Suigetsu said grinning and looking at Sasuke who had his eyes shut and was facing down. His eyebrows looked tense and his mouth was forming a scowl.

"Let's go then, Sasuke, Juugo." Suigetsu said and took off.

"A-Ano... Suigetsu-kun... do you need me t-to take you there?" Hinata thought puzzled. _How does he know where it is? _Hinata thought confused looking at him, who hadn't stopped. _I haven't showed them. Hmmm.. maybe Karin told them where to go... _Hinata thought then turned to Sasuke again who was in the process of standing up. When he finally looked up, Hinata's face was no less than five inches away from his. He became startled when she appeared in front of him suddenly and flinched.

"E-eto... Sasuke-san... I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean to startle you..." Hinata apologized, blushing and stepped back a bit. "I just... wanted to k-know who's tent I'll share tonight..." Then she looked down and began playing with her fingers.

"Mine... go in already..." Sasuke said quietly, still not looking at her and finally walked past her.

Hinata merely looked back at him, puzzled over his attitude. _But then again, I don't know him very well... _Hinata thought and went inside the tent.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was walking at a quick pace towards the spring. He stopped and look up at one of the trees to see Suigetsu hanging upside down facing Sasuke with a grin that almost reached each of his ears. His eyes were shut in the shape of V's. He then opened them, and formed an evil grin while looking down at Sasuke.

"You don't need to be mad at Hinata-chaaaaannnn... I mean... you walked in on her and molested her while she was innocently, nakedly, sexily—" SMACK!---

"Shut the fuck up Suigetsu!" Sasuke said angrily, his face turning beet red, with a vein popping out abnormally from his forehead.

flashback

"Hmmm... how long are they going to make us wait?" Sasuke groaned, beginning to get impatient. It had been about an hour after he specifically told them not to make them wait.

"Dude, Karin has been back for a while now." Suigetsu said putting up Juugo's tent with a frown on his face.

"Geez, why do I have to make everyone's fucking tent?!!?"Suigetsu said with a frown, struggling with the assemblage.

"So, they're back then?" Sasuke said standing up and looking down at a tangled Suigetsu.

"Well, yeah, I saw Karin... I dunno maybe they're changing in their tents or something..." Suigetsu said completely distracted.

"Mm. I'll see you there then, as soon as you finish. Hmm... Where's Juugo?" Sasuke asked looking around.

"I think he went to get more food from the woods... he's like fucking Snow White... the animals actually pick food for him..." Suigetsu said, more attentively now, but still focusing mainly on the set-up.

"Mm.. OK then." Sasuke said with one last glance ... _OK... well the girls went walking this way... so I guess I just go straight... Hinata would probably take a straight road since she can spot the easiest way to get there..._

As he walked down a dense forest, Sasuke began looking around... _Hmmm... I wonder if I should've paid more attention to Karin when she said she sensed something... Hinata looked pretty worried too. _Sasuke thought. He was really hoping it had been Karin's imagination, he didn't want to think that it could have been Itachi and that he had missed him. He would seriously hate himself forever. Deep down, he knew it was a possibility. Itachi was good enough to be standing right behind him and he would not be able to sense him.

He had always wondered why it was that his brother had been born such a prodigy and have turned out so horribly wrong. He had everyone's love, care and interest, while Sasuke was just struggling to move away from Itachi's shadow.

He had walked for about six minutes, when he finally spotted the spring... It was a good size. The water was clear and looked pretty clean. It had two sections, one was not visible from where he was standing due to some boulders that were in the way. _Heh, we could've all bathed at the same time... Oh well... Karin would've probably tried to take a peek over here and Suigetsu would've definitely tried to take a peek over there. It's better this way... _Sasuke thought frowning.

Since it had a lot of large boulders on the side of the spring, the floor was probably made of rocks too, which meant cleaner water, not exactly see-through or anything, but definitely not a mudbath. Sasuke reasoned as he began to remove his clothing. When he was done and was down to nothing but boxers, he finally went inside the water and submerged himself in order to grow accustomed to the temperature of the water... which was pretty cold.

_Wow, when's the last time I actually swam underwater... _Sasuke thought as he propelled himself through the still water. When his breath was beginning to become short, he began to emerge, and as he rose up and out of the water... _What the... what is that? _He thought, not wanting to open his eyes under the water. He poked it, to discover it was... soft... and hmmm squishy... He finally opened his eyes hoping it wasn't anything that could harm him. In the darkness of the forest, during nighttime and with the water altering his vision, he couldn't make out what it was so... he put his hand on it and felt it for a bit...He should've stopped and poked his head out as soon as he felt it, but swimming in the water after _this_ long made him feel adventurous.

_What the hell is this... jellyfish have no way of being here... and its not squishy enough to be a jellyfish anyway... hmm... ...it's connected to... ...wait... please no... _Sasuke thought finally poking his head out of the water to see a sleeping, and very much naked Hinata resting on some boulders that rose out of the water. The water was up to her neck and only her nose up was out of the water. Turns out Hinata had been resting on the side of the spring that apparently wasn't visible from where he had stood. His eyes widened when he looked down to see his hand on Hinata's left breast... and his body practically pressing against her bare one.

Sasuke immediately began to perspire and his face reddened... _Why couldn't it have been a jellyfish... _Sasuke thought frozen... If Hinata were to wake up... that'd be the end of his reputation. He doubted she would tell anyone, but still.

"Hey, Sasuke,there you are, we need to find your brother soon cuz mann I tell you those tents get harder and harder to assem--- ---" Suigetsu said and then blinked twice to make sure his mind had processed the right image into his brain...

Sasuke was more than halfway submerged looking back at Suigetsu, with a scowl and a finger pressed tightly to his lips. His body no more than three inches away from Hinata's. From where Suigetsu stood, it seemed he was actually pressing against her. Needless to say, Suigetsu was dumbfounded. He had no idea Sasuke was actually _not _asexual.

"Sasuke... I gotta say... " Suigetsu began but was shushed right away by Sasuke who slowly and carefully stepped out of the water and headed to his clothes, quickly putting them back on and rushing away.

Suigetsu looked back once more at Hinata and was surprised to see the most perfect curves he had ever seen. Her body was a beautiful pale color and the color was even all over her body. Every curve on her body was soft and smooth. The water wasn't perfectly clear, but her body was visible enough due to her paleness. _Woah... who would've known... _He thought with his hands shoved in his pockets. Then he slowly followed after Sasuke.

"I saw that..." Sasuke said silently, his face still red as hell.

"What?"

"You're an embarrassment to Hebi." Sasuke continued monotonously. He had no idea why he cared so much that Suigetsu had completely eyed Hinata like that, but he did. Maybe it was his huge sense of modesty, maybe Hinata just wasn't like every other girl. Maybe she didn't deserve to be looked at in a vulgar way. He had no idea, but he didn't care _enough_ to give it much thought. All he knew was that Suigetsu was a pervert.

"What'd I do?" Suigetsu said, completely confused.

"Never mind." Sasuke decided to end it there. He didn't want to make it sound as if he was jealous or anything of the sort, so he just stopped. Unfortunately, Suigetsu knew what he was heading for.

"Ahhhh, I see... Heh, you really think you have the right to tell me that when you actually molested her?????" Suigetsu said and began laughing hysterically.

"I DID NOT MOLEST HER, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

"I saw you touching her boob, what? Did you think it was a jellyfish?!!"

_That's it..._ He knew it sounded stupid, but damn it! It was true!

"Tch. I'm not looking for your approval." Sasuke said and sat by his tent, leaving Suigetsu to laugh on his own.

End of flashback.

Sasuke lay on one side of the lake, while Suigetsu was on the other side. He was still pissed at Suigetsu and would send him venomous glares every time Suigetsu tried to approach.

"C'mon, Sasuke, don't be like that!" Suigetsu was wining to Sasuke. He was still laughing on the inside, but on the outside, he actually pulled off a concerned expression.

Sasuke merely ignored him and shut his eyes, blocking him out entirely.

"I was just kidding! Either way, I don't blame you, she had a really nice bod!" Suigetsu said, looking intensely for Sasuke's reaction to his rude comment. He knew Sasuke had developed a soft spot for Hinata. It was about as soft as a rock, but then again, every other emotion in his body was even harder.

"Stop talking about her like that, you're so fucking sick." Sasuke said, beginning to feel angry. Dammit! He had made a mistake, an extremely stupid one, I mean, he didn't know what the hell it was, and he fucking felt around for it. He wanted to forget about it, and Suigetsu here was making it an impossible task.

Sasuke didn't even check her out. When he saw what he was touching, he merely froze. He didn't look up and down at the helpless girl. He just wasn't like that. Sure, he hated all his fan girls, but he had respect for them. He had respect for every girl out there, that's why he avoided them. If it had been a guy, he would treat them as he pleased and not feel even slightly guilty. Sure, he had treated Sakura and Ino very horribly, but damn, those two deserved it. They were just so annoying to him. They just couldn't take a hint. 'I love you' and 'Sasuke-kunnnnnn' was all he would ever hear. So yeah, at times, he just had no choice but to act in an 'asshole' matter to them.

Hinata, unlike every other girl out there, never stalked him, so he just merely avoided her. It was easy too. She never tried approaching him, not even once. He remembered, while fighting off a herd of fan girls, he had spotted Hinata at a distance, reading a book, while walking home. She was completely unaware of the commotion his fan girls were causing, she looked so peaceful. Then, they were about eleven years old. Yeah, eleven, and he had a bunch of girls with out-of-control hormones hounding him. At that one moment he remembered thinking 'Why can't all of them be like you..." After that, Hinata was just anyone else again.

"Hehhehehehe... Whatever then, don't forgive me... not like I care..." Suigetsu said still smiling and finally shutting his eyes to relax.

Sasuke took advantage of this and finally closed his eyes as well to relax. He wasn't really tired, but he needed any comfort he could put his hands on.

(A/N: Yeah, this chapter was pretty short, but damn it's hard for me to separate them. Yeah well I'm glad most of you or (yay!) all of you seem to like my story. It will have a lot of plot twisters and drama later on... lol believe it or not, the story hasn't hit any of the climatic events. Hehe. Oh and hmmm i'm not really sure if Hinata will get stronger... since she probably won't really have to fight... but I dunno maybe I'll add a battle between her and someone special. Hahahaha. We'll see... now that you mention it, I should and I probably will. Well, thanks again for all the awesome reviews everyone. And keep reviewing. Thanks!)


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

When Sasuke's eyes reopened, Suigetsu had fallen asleep right next to him.

_Ugh... _He frowned and pushed him away. Suigetsu's face merely sank into the water and that's where he stayed. Sasuke stood up silently and began to make his way out of the spring. He looked back at Suigetsu wondering if he should help him, after all his face had sank into the water.

_Well if he's made of water, water shouldn't kill him... _Sasuke reasoned and began to put his clothes back on. He shrugged off the fact that his boxers were still totally wet and began walking back towards the tents. He yawned and began flexing his arms as he walked back. When he got there, he found little Hinata in a state of panic, trying to reassemble the tent her and Sasuke were supposed to sleep in.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked when Hinata looked up at him with an embarrassed expression.

"I-I e-eto... w-well..." Hinata said as her cheeks began to flush.

"Damn, just answer the question... how many times do I have to tell you I won't bite?" Sasuke asked again with a frown.

"I- Go-gomenasai... Sasuke-san, it was an accident... W-when I was trying to come in here, I a-accidentally knocked the wh-whole thing down... It got caught on my j-jacket, a-and I panicked and I tried to move inside faster... but it was j-just the tent... and... i-it... fell" Hinata said, her cheeks completely red, to go along with the rest of her face.

"I see..." Sasuke said. He felt like laughing so much on the inside, but that just wasn't him. So he merely grinned widely and looked down at a struggling Hinata.

"I-I can't seem t-to be able to p-put it together again..." she said and then looked up at a grinning Sasuke. Her face reddened instantly and she immediately looked back down at the mess she had created in shame.

"Hmm..." Sasuke said, still grinning and squatted down. "Do you just want to wait until Suigetsu comes back?" Sasuke asked, no longer grinning.

"No! ... I-I sorry... "

"Why not?" Sasuke asked, still looking at her, completely serious now.

"I-I don't want to b-be a burden to S-Suigetsu-kun..." Hinata said looking down at her fingers, which, against her will, had began to fiddle.

Sasuke held back a rude remark and eyed her with a frown. He wanted to know why Hinata seemed to like Suigetsu-_kun _more than anyone else in the group. But, asking would, again, make him seem jealous, so he held back and merely continued to glare at her. "Fine, then do it on your own. I'll go walk around for a bit, and when I return, it better be reassembled." Sasuke said, got up, and began walking away, looking back at her once before he finally disappeared.

_Stupid girl... Ugh! I hate them all! They're all so noisy, annoying, thoughtless, and pathetic. _Sasuke's frown disappeared and he looked thoughtful for a second.

_Hmm... Hinata isn't any of the first three, but she takes the fourth one to a whole new level..._

Sasuke walked around for another twenty minutes and finally began heading back. When he arrived, there was Suigetsu_-kun _helping out Hinata with the tent. Hinata blushing immensely and apologizing with much force. _Suigetsu-kun _was smiling the whole time of course, while he was assembling his, and Hinata's tent.

"You know, you owe me big-time Hinata-chan... These things take forever to assemble!" Suigetsu said to Hinata while grinning to where she couldn't see his expression.

"I-I know... I-I'm so sorry..." Hinata said while doing quick, respectful vows.

"Stop apologizing already..." Sasuke said walking towards them, with a serious expression on his face and then turned to Suigetsu, " Are you done? I'm tired..."

Suigetsu merely nodded and glared at Sasuke... He apparently hadn't noticed he was there... And when he did, all he remembered was the moment Sasuke had left him to drown in the spring. _Asshole.. _

"What?" Sasuke asked beginning to become annoyed at the face Suigetsu was making at him.

"Nothing, nothing at all... Goodnight Hinata-chan! Goodnight Sasuke..." He said with his fists tight. Smiling while he said goodnight to Hinata and pronouncing the words really quietly while he said goodnight to Sasuke.

"Tch.. Whatever..." Sasuke said and retreated into the tent. Hinata following closely afterward.

"U-umm G-gomen, Sasuke, but I-I'm sorry you h-had to wait another half an h-hour or so to fi-finally rest up..." Hinata said and finally laid down turned away from him.

"You're so damn clumsy... didn't you participate in the Chuunin exams... I heard your team finished the forest mission right after Gaara and his siblings."

"Mm-hmm." Hinata nodded without saying anything else. After all, he had just told Suigetsu-kun he was tired.

"Who'd you battle with on the tournament?" He didn't really feel tired, it was just that, for some strange reason, he hated it when she was accompanied by Suigetsu and blushing so much around him. He had no idea what it was... He had never felt it before... But, he definitely hated it.

"A-ahh... N-Neji-nissan..." she said with her voice getting smaller and smaller every second.

"You fought a relative...?" Sasuke said turning over to face her. For some reason, he was disappointed to find that she wasn't facing him.

"Mm-hmm" Hinata said quietly.

"Turn around and face me when I'm talking to you..." Sasuke said harshly, but he was obeyed nonetheless. Once he felt he had her attention, he asked, "How did it go?"

"I-I got hurt... I w-was really close to d-dying..." When Hinata looked up to see Sasuke's face, she continued more loudly "B-but it was all my fault! I-I upset Neji- niisan, I brought it o-on myself."

Sasuke was taken aback by her response... _She almost got killed, and she still thinks she's the guilty one? _"What did you say to upset him?" _What could Hinata have possibly said to upset her relative that much? I mean... it's Hinata, for crying out loud!_

"I-I don't really w-want to talk about it..." Hinata said, not looking at him.

"Hmm... if you answer this one question, I'll answer one of yours." Sasuke said. When that line was made, it was meant to sound cute and friendly. But, when Sasuke said it, it just sounded dishonest, completely false.

Hinata noticed this, but she said it anyway " Neji-ni hated me s-since... we were l-little... he w-was always the stronger one... I was the heiress, and he was just a branch family member... I-I d-don't know how the U-Uchiha's family works, but in the Hyuuga family, we have w-what we c-call cursed s-seals... Wh-which c-can be activated b-by the main family of th-the clan, and th-those with the seal... c-can die." Hinata realized that the more she talked about it, the more relieved she felt.

Sasuke looked at her with interest, he had no idea the Hyuuga were so... hostile. "Go on..."

Hinata looked up at him and was relieved to see his face actually looked interested in what she was saying. "W-well, I'm the heiress, so n-naturally, I-I didn't get one... but N-neji-nii did... a-and s-so did his father and... ... "

"Well?" He was confused as to why she still referred to him as 'Neji-nii'...

"H-he w-was killed... because... of the c-cursed seal..." Hinata said almost too quietly to hear.

"Why? What did he do?" The interest Sasuke had for the Hyuuga clan was completely obvious now, which made Hinata more confident, yet still ashamed about her clan, and what they had done to the branch members.

"W-well... When I was smaller, th-they tried to kidnap me... my f-father rescued me and it it turned out to be the leader o-of the lightning country... but, my father h-had killed him be-before he knew who it was... ... and so... the lightning country de-demanded an unsealed Byakugan holder, my father couldn't g-go himself, because he didn't want them t-to experiment with the Byakugan... ... s-so he sent Neji-nii's father instead, since th-they were twin brothers and he w-was sealed..." (A/N: Hinata doesn't know the truth, even in the real anime, so she still feels very ashamed of her father, and what he did.)

"And he took it out on you in the battlefield?..."

"I-I guess so... b-but it was all my f-fault... poor Neji-nii w-was j-just a victim of the Hyuuga clan's rules...Wh-when I inherit the c-clan, I promised I would ch-change the rules...for him and the rest of the branch members"

"That doesn't mean he should take it out on you... how can you hold so much respect for someone who nearly killed you?" Sasuke asked incrediously. The question that was meant to be directed towards Hinata, became a question for himself. He felt he wasn't looking for her answer, he was wondering why he couldn't feel the same way... Itachi had killed his damn parents. That's why! He felt confused... Itachi had hurt him, and what had he done? Plot revenge against him and make it his lifetime goal. Hinata, on the other hand, had promised to make it better for Neji. Not only had Neji hurt Hinata, but he had always made Hinata look inferior in strength. Just like Itachi had made him feel inferior and looked down upon. Just how Itachi was always called the genius of the Uchiha clan, Neji had probably had the same reputation within the Hyuuga clan. He found that he and Hinata had had a similar dilemma, yet they had reacted in totally different ways.

"A-ano... Sasuke-san... I have a question for you now..." Hinata said, feeling a lot more relieved and confident towards Sasuke now. He had actually listened to her story and had responded with a remark, or question that showed concern for her. This made her feel good about herself, however, she wasn't sure what to ask. She wanted to know what happened between him and Itachi, but she also wanted to ask him if he would return to Konoha.

"No, we need to sleep... save it for later..." Sasuke said and turned away from her.

"B-But, Sasuke-san..." Hinata continued trying. _It's not fair!_

"No... sorry, but no... I'm not in the mood and I think I know what you're gonna ask.." he said matter-of-factly and shut his eyes. He was surprised to hear her speak again, however, and he reopened his eyes.

"O-Ok, but, you- you'll owe me two q-questions then..." Hinata said in a high pitched voice, she had no idea where it had come from but it had come alright. The guts to tell Sasuke that he owes her. She immediately looked back down, and looked up again with uncertainty. _I hope I didn't anger him..._

Sasuke turned his head around half ways, just enough to look at her, and what was once a look of surprise, turned into a smile, more like a grin and he slowly replied "Deal."

Hinata smiled at this. Sasuke, all of a sudden felt human, and not like an android or some other emotionless specimen. He was actually a really good person, but just like Neji, he had been a victim of life's events. It wasn't his fault. Hinata continued looking at Sasuke's back and then finally said "Oyasumi, Sasuke-_kun_." She felt like she could see him more as a friend now than ever before... sure, she still talked to Suigetsu more, but that didn't mean she liked him any more than she liked Sasuke. Sasuke was, after all, a bit cold to her at first. I mean, he had sent to kidnap her.

Sasuke reopened his eyes for a brief second and closed them again, while smiling. He was finally a kun... He remembered hating that name for eternity, but coming from Hinata, it just didn't sound like she was flirting at all. She actually sounded honest and more like a friend than anything else.

That night Sasuke had the best sleep ever... for about three hours...

"SASUKE! SASUKE!" Hinata was yelling and shaking him violently.

"What is it???" He said groggily, and with a moody tone._ She's actually shaking me violently._

"IT'S THE LEAF!! NARUTO-KUN, THEY'RE ALL HEADED THIS WAY!!!!" Hinata said urgently "THEY'RE ABOUT THIRTEEN MILES FROM HERE!"

_WHAT??? _"Shit, tell Suigetsu to at least take one tent, hurry, and get your stuff ready. We need to move now!" Sasuke said in a state of panic. _Dammit, they'll probably be able to trace my scent from here when they get here... shit, shit, shit..._

Meanwhile,on Naruto's side...

"Shino, are you sure your stupid bugs are seeing correctly?" Kiba yelled while racing through the forest atop of Akamaru.

_They're not stupid..._"No doubt. Hinata is close by... and she's not alone..." Shino said, not wanting to reveal to Naruto that she was indeed with Sasuke... Naruto would surely advance stupidly and get them all noticed and killed.

"How much further ahead is she?" Naruto asked struggling to keep up with Akamaru. _Damn dog is quick._

"About twenty miles, the last time my bug reported something... We should be closer to her now..." Shino said with uncertainty.

"Can't you smell her at all Kiba?!!" Naruto yelled impatiently. He had asked this question several times already, and he still couldn't believe or understand the answer.

"I already fucking told you Naruto, I spent so much time with Hinata, I got used to her scent, so now I can't smell her at all!" Kiba repeated angrily. _How is it possible for someone to be so damn stupid? The same would happen if I had to find Shino too.._

Naruto groaned and looked forward to notice Shino stopping.

"Hey, what happened?" Naruto screamed without stopping. Then he finally stopped and jumped from branch to branch back to where Shino stood.

"Yeah, what's the matter?" Sakura asked finally catching up with Kakashi not too far behind her. Slowly afterward, Sai and Yamato were there as well.

"Why'd we stop?" Sai asked cooly in a squatted position.

_Hinata... why are you running from us? _Shino thought as soon as he saw(A/N: I'm not sure if he can do this in the real anime, but in here Shino can see what his bugs see, but first the bug that saw her had to notify him in order for his vision to also become the bugs... if you're confused, I'm sorry ()) that Hinata had begun to flee along with Sasuke and his team, when she realized that they were coming. Shino couldn't understand why Hinata would run, but he'd never dream of going against her wishes... If Hinata wanted to help Sasuke, it was because she thought it was the right thing to do, Shino reasoned and silently said "I lost her..."

"EHHHHHH?!?!?!?!" Naruto said with his mouth hung open.

"HOW COULD YOU LOSE HINATA LIKE THAT???!!!" Kiba asked surprised Shino had actually failed at something. Sure, Shino was no Jounin, but he always got the job done, or he never took it at all.

Shino merely repeated what he said before and looked straight at Kakashi.

Kakashi understood immediately and instructed for them to split up again, take again, at least one hound each, and then just search the area. When they had all jumped away, Shino looked up at Kakashi.

"So what's going on?" Kakashi asked Shino in his usual lazy voice.

"Hinata seems to be working together with Sasuke, when she noticed we were closeby, she alerted the rest and they ran for it." Shino said seriously with his hands in his pocket.

"Hmm... I see. So where are they?" Kakashi asked Shino and crossed his arms.

"They ran ten degrees North from here. I believe they are running in a straight path."

"So what do you suggest we do? Do we go after her, or should we count on her to bring Sasuke back?" He stood thinking for a while and corrected himself "Can we trust her on bringing Sasuke back?"

"I'm not sure, but from the looks of it, it seems him and Hinata are getting along pretty well... I mean, I never thought I'd see Hinata ever associating with someone like Sasuke, but by the looks of it, they were sleeping in the same tent."

"Ah, I see..." Kakashi smiled beneath the mask he always wore. "I guess we can leave it up to her, unless we catch up with them by some chance." _Maybe Sasuke can actually develop a soft spot for a girl after all..._

"Mm." Shino nodded and then they both jumped away in separate ways, both "looking" for Hinata.

Unfortunately, for them, Sakura hadn't left when she was told and had been listening in. She had noticed the look Shino gave Kakashi after saying he had lost Hinata. Yamato had picked it up right away, and everyone else was just really dense.

_Hinata is helping Sasuke escape from us? Why? That traitor... Doesn't she know how much this means to me and Naruto? _Sakura just stood there behind a tree trunk wide-eyed. _Sharing tents with Sasuke..._

Sakura finally snapped out of it and her face formed anger. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her gloves, putting them on and adjusting them.

_I'm getting Sasuke back... That's for sure... I don't care if I have to beat the crap out of Hinata. _Sakura thought and jumped off in the direction Shino had mentioned.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Hinata stumbled to her knees and began coughing. They had been running like crazy for about two hours straight and even the guys were tired. Instead of taking it calmly, like they should have, they ran like maniacs.

"We coulda left faster if you hadn't stopped to get the rest of the tents Suigetsu!"

"SHADDAP! I WASN'T GONNA SLEEP COMFORTABLY WITH JUUGO, HINATA, SASUKE, AND YOU!"

Sasuke looked at Hinata wide-eyed. _She actually warned me. She's really trying to help me here? Why, Hinata?_

Sasuke felt horrible for making Hinata feel like a traitor several times before, but now, all he saw was someone he could trust, someone who he could definitely count on. He squatted down and offered his hand to her.

Hinata looked up at him and smiled for a moment. Then she took his hand and he helped her up. He was speechless. All he could do was stare at her face, while she struggled to catch her breath. She looked confused, but was smiling nonetheless.

_He's still holding my hand... Do I tell him to let go?... ... Do I want him to?_ Hinata felt extremely perplexed. She had no idea how much she wanted to help Sasuke until she actually had to. She had spotted Naruto along with Kiba and Shino and she had actually shaken Sasuke madly, and to escape from her Naruto-kun.

"E-eto... Sasuke, I'm going to check and see if we're safe."

He nodded and then realized he hadn't released her hand. He turned away and his face flushed. _What's wrong with me? ... This girl..._

"_Byakugan" _Hinata muttered and sighed.

"I can't see Shino, Naruto, or Kiba anymore. Everyone else was behind them so, I think we're s-safe..." she stuttered once she realized that she hadn't stuttered for at least five minutes.

"Good. We can rest here then. I'd say we need it." Sasuke said and jumped off the tree he had stood on. Hinata and the rest following right after. When they had all reached the ground, they all, at the same time, sank into the floor.

"Damn that feels good on the feet..." Karin said, also struggling with her breath.

"No kidding." Suigetsu said, his jaw completely opened, him too, trying to suck in as much air as possible.

Juugo just sat there, with his face fixed in a serene expression. He didn't seem worried at all.

Sasuke had also sunk into the ground and he looked up, breathing heavily, to see Hinata holding her chest and panting for air. _She practically killed herself to help me out... _

Sasuke was confused. He had assured himself that Hinata, on the first chance given, were to see anyone approaching, she would keep it to herself and run for it. But she hadn't. She had awoken him. She had actually ran away from her friends for the sake of him. Someone she hardly knew.

He looked at her now as the shy girl struggled to regain her composure. She looked as if she was suffocating. She was just so fragile, so small. But there was just something about her that ... attracted him. He had never felt this way about a girl before. He never thought he would. He had grown to convince himself that he would be the last Uchiha. He would battle Itachi to the death and make sure he died sooner than Sasuke. And he was fine with that... until now. Now he felt he wanted to live after he had his revenge. Maybe he still saw Hinata as a friend only, but just knowing her made him want to find out for sure.

"You okay?" he said with a concerned look on his face.

Hinata looked up at Sasuke with a small smile on her face and nodded. She was perspiring minimally now, and she closed her eyes and leaned back taking one last breath through her mouth and then closing it.

Sasuke got on his feet and walked towards her. He looked down at her and couldn't help but smile when she looked up and blushed away.

"You sure?" he asked and let himself fall into sitting position next to her. He slowly turned to her and when she had turned to look at him, he mouthed the words _Thank you..._

Hinata sweetly smiled and shook her head slowly.

Then from one second to the next, her calm eyes widened and the words _Sakura-chan _were barely audible.

Sasuke looked at her and then looked to where Hinata was staring wide-eyed.

"Hinata..." Sakura stood there with one fist pressed roughly against her other open hand.

"S-Sakura-ch-chan... I.." Hinata stuttered. She didn't ever want to face Sakura. Despite how much Naruto seemed to like her, Hinata could never think ill of her.

"SHUT UP HINATA! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! I'M TAKING SASUKE BACK TO KONOHA EVEN IF I HAVE TO KICK THE SHIT OUT OF YOU!" Sakura yelled and ran towards Hinata with one fist behind her gaining speed as she quickly approached.

Sasuke reacted immediately and grabbed Hinata violently by the jacket. He then pulled with all he had, and once he had accomplished a firm grip on Hinata's trembling body he jumped out of the way. Sakura's fist crashed into the tree trunk that had stood behind Hinata and Sasuke, and it collapsed, threatening to fall upon the rest of Team Hebi.

"SASUKE! WE GOTTA GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! NONE OF US ARE IN ANY CONDITION TO FIGHT, WE JUST RAN OUR ASSES OFF LIKE CRAZY!"

Sasuke merely looked their way and looked back at Hinata who was now on all fours staring at Sakura's immense strength with fear. She then faced Sasuke and mumbled between breaths "Sasuke... she'll go g-get everyone else if she's not stopped ri--"

Sasuke quickly pulled Hinata towards him and once again evaded Sakura's devastating blow. He was amazed at how much strength she had gained. Sasuke looked at Hinata and considered what she had just said. His eyes widened and he stared dumbfounded as yet another tree stumbled to the ground.

"S-Sasuke, I-I will take h-her... p-please just go... I'll s-stop her for now at least."

Sasuke looked at Hinata and his face became angry. "You haven't even been able to evade any of her attacks! What the hell makes you think you can hold her off??"

"I-I can... i-if I must... p-please... j-just trust me this one time..." Hinata's eyes pleaded as she looked up at Sasuke who's face was still locked in an expression of worry.

_I do trust you... I just don't want you to get hurt dammit! You damn idiot..._ He couldn't speak his mind, but he nodded nonetheless.

She simply smiled up at him and said thank you. Then she quickly jumped away, for the first time evading one of Sakura's attacks on her own. Sasuke merely jumped back and looked at her one last time before he met up with the rest of Hebi. He looked back again to where the battle would take place and froze. He wasn't, couldn't just leave her there. If anything happened to her, he would jump in and save her. Screw Itachi... for now. He couldn't let her know, however so he kept his distance and hid well.

"Hinata... why are you doing this? Don't you know how important this is to Naruto??!"

"S-Sakura-chan, I-I'm sorry... I-I need to help Sasuke..."

"Hinata, you just made the biggest mistake of your life. I swear, I'll defeat you and take you and Sasuke back to Konoha!"

Sakura tightened her gloves on her fists and again charged at Hinata summoning her chakra on her fist. Hinata quickly jumped up to a tree branch, and jumped to her right once more to evade two shurikens Sakura had just thrown at her. Sakura looked up at Hinata and scoffed when she saw none of them had hit. She then advanced toward the tree and punched it yelling "SHANNARO!"

The tree slowly began to give way beneath Hinata's feet and she quickly jumped off, landing right behind Sakura.

_I need to do something... I can't just keep evading... I'll get beaten for sure._

Hinata activated her Byakugan and looked through it at Sakura's chakra circulation. When she saw the glowing currents of chakra coming at her, she noticed that most of it seemed to go to the fist. Hinata ran back towards another tree that was about three meters away and waited there for about two seconds and ducked down out of Sakura's way, still eyeing how the chakra burst out in all directions, cracking the tree and then causing it to fall forward. Sakura jumped to the left and Hinata ran to the right in order to escape the falling tree. Sakura looked over at Hinata and threw her an angry glare then jumped up while reaching into her pocket and taking about three kunais and hurling them at Hinata. Hinata merely moved her body slightly and easily avoided all three of them. Then she looked down to find one with an explosion tag carefully wrapped around one of the handles, making it almost invisible. Hinata quickly swiped it off the ground and threw it at Sakura. About three fourths of the way there, it exploded, the impact barely hitting Sakura who had moved back in order to avoid the explosion.

_So when she punches, it's all just chakra bursting out, making the impact seem more than ten times stronger. _Hinata reasoned and then retreated back and away from Sakura.

_So far, all she's done is punch and throw things... _ Hinata jumped atop another tree. _Can I really bring myself to hurt Sakura-chan...?_

Hinata's thoughts were disturbed as the tree she stood upon began to give way beneath her feet. As she tried to jump off she realized her jacket was being pinned by a kunai. _When did she...?_ As the tree stumbled down, Hinata struggled to pull the kunai out of the tree bark. Hinata could do nothing as the tree stumbled forward with her underneath.

_It's going to crush me..._ Hinata thought, but as the tree reached the bottom, Hinata's jacket tore, and seconds after she hit the ground, she jumped out of the way. The tree barely missed her small frame, however some of the branches had landed on her bottom part of her thigh as she tried to run from the impact.

Sakura began to approach her, as Hinata was pulling her left leg out from the bottom of the heavy branch. Hinata again activated her Byakugan and saw how chakra was beginning to accumulate in Sakura's left fist as she pulled it back and prepared herself to attack Hinata with it. Hinata muttered the words _Shugohake Rokujyuu Yonshou, _and quickly formed a barrier created from extremely fine currents of chakra to protect her from Sakura's punch.

When Sakura's hand landed on the barrier, it began to sink painfully into her fist, causing her knuckles and fingers to bleed in the shape of the barrier. Her gloves were completely shredded, and if Sakura didn't move her fist back and away from Hinata's barrier, it would completely disable her arm. Sakura whelped in pain and as she retreated back, Hinata sent the barrier forward, delivering Sakura's body with many sharp needles slashing through her.

_Shit... I didn't know Hinata had it in her... I don't have that much chakra left either... so I can't afford to heal for every little thing..._ She had wasted most of her chakra using a technique that hid her presence completely, even from the Byakugan. She wasn't an idiot, she knew Hinata had Byakugan, and she knew she had to do something about it.

Hinata finally finished pulling her leg out from beneath the tree and then jumped back and away from Sakura who was holding her wrist in a tight grip. Hinata looked at Sakura's hand, and immediately felt horrible for it. It was bleeding heavily and blood seemed to cover most of the front part of her hand. But, that was what she had to do. There was no turning back now.

"Hinata, what do you think Naruto would say, if he knew you were helping Sasuke escape him? And fighting me to do so...?" Sakura asked Hinata still holding her wrist in pain.

"S-Sakura-ch-chan... I.. need to help S-Sasuke-san... I-I'm sorry..." Hinata said in a high, barely audible voice.

"Is that so? Fine, then have it your way" Sakura said and began running forward towards Hinata, this time holding her right hand back to gain momentum. Hinata could visibly see the chakra mounting like crazy into Sakura's fist...

_I need to stop the chakra from circulating into her arm... Which means I need to get closer, and sneak up behind her... But how...?_

As Sakura brought her fist forward, Hinata began to retreat back again and pulled out two kunais throwing them in her direction, Sakura noticed and redirected her punch to the sides of the kunais knocking them both completely off course. Then she jumped up and began following Hinata up a tree.

_If I could get her to punch into the wood hard enough to get her arm stuck, I should be able to disable her chakra flow with ease... _Hinata thought and continued moving up. When she was close to the top and Sakura had caught up, she quickly began heading back down the tree. _The thicker the bark, the deeper her fist can penetrate, the longer I have to disable her arm._

When Hinata had almost reached the bottom of the tree, she stopped and waited for Sakura to come punching. _I need to make it look as if I'm stuck and can't move... If not she'll notice what I'm trying to do..._

When she jumped down once more, she noticed that the next branch was hollow and all she had to do, was land heavily on it and it would make it seem as if her foot was stuck. It was perfect. Hinata waited a bit longer until Sakura was about three feet away from her and jumped down once more, sending all her strength into her left foot, which easily broke into the hollow branch. She then looked up at Sakura who was bringing her fist forward violently, and then ducked down, which caused Sakura's arm to be shoved deeply into the bark of the tree. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw red spots all over her arm. Hinata had hit her chakra points, and now her arm was completely useless. Hinata pulled her foot out of the branch easily and stood behind Sakura. Sakura merely turned her body over, her right hand still shoved into the tree, and brought forward her left fist, crashing it into Hinata's left collar bone and shoulder.

The damage was huge. Hinata's frail body flew back and crashed into another tree as a high pitched scream of pain escaped her throat. Imprinted on her cape was Sakura's bloody fist, and her shoulder felt as if it had been completely removed from her body. Her collar bone was definitely broken. _I should've known she would use the other fist... I'm sorry Sasuke, Naruto-kun..._

Hinata's eyes began to water from the extreme amount of pain that ran throughout her entire left side of her upper body. When she tried to lift herself, she realized that her ribs were also in extreme pain.

Sasuke stood not too far away wide-eyed. _She actually put up a fight..._ He was about to walk into the scene to take Hinata away, but instead he stopped when Hinata got up into a shaky stance and held her left shoulder. She then directed herself to where Sakura still stood stuck. _I can't just quit now, I've come too far..._ Hinata activated her soft fist and shoved her palm into Sakura's lower part of the rib cage. This knocked out nearly all of Sakura's chakra flow, not to mention her air, and she stood there, wide eyed. Her body collapsed and she was hanging from the arm that was still penetrated into the tree. Sakura weakly looked up at Hinata, who had begun to walk away. _I can't face anyone in Konoha anymore... I don't know what to do... _

Sasuke looked at Hinata as she began to walk away from Sakura's wounded body. _Hinata actually hurt Sakura for me... _

"Hinata, I know how you feel about Naruto... in fact, everyone knows how you feel about Naruto."

Hinata weakly turned around and blushed. She looked down. _Everyone knew?Was she really that obvious?_

Sasuke could hear perfectly everything Sakura was saying and he was confused. _Everyone knows how she feels towards Naruto? What the hell's Sakura talking about now...?_

"We all know you love Naruto... so why are you making it so hard for him to be happy?"

Hinata's face grew even redder, and Sasuke just continued listening, wide-eyed and dumbfounded. _But, Suigetsu said..._

"S-Sakura-chan..." Hinata stuttered and looked down at her feet.

So she was that obvious. Might as well just tell her. Besides, if Naruto knows maybe he would really notice her now.

"Wh-what I'm t-trying to do is..."

Sasuke was listening intently at this point. He was finally going to hear Hinata's true intentions.

"I-I want to help Sasuke-kun... k-kill his brother Itachi, so- so Naruto-kun can be safe from Itachi-s-san... I'm j-just trying to help Naruto-kun..." Hinata said. She didn't feel so much confidence saying it anymore. After all, it sounded as if she was just using Sasuke to help Naruto out.

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked down, forming a small smile..."You really do love Naruto, ne, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata's face reddened again, but this time she couldn't answer... She didn't really know if she really loved Naruto like she used to anymore...

Sasuke stood hidden among some bushes nearby and his jaw clenched. His eyes showed a blinking Sharingan activated and his eyebrows were locked tensely downward. _I see..._ Sasuke merely looked down in defeat and tightened his fist. His heart felt a heavy burden fall upon it, and it definitely wasn't a welcoming feeling.

"Hinata-chan, I'm so sorry, if I would've known... " Tears began to swell beneath Sakura's eyes. A soft sob escaped her lips as she looked up again at Hinata's shattered body. She had broken most of her left side. But, she wouldn't allow Hinata to leave like that. She would heal her even if it drained her life out... She slowly moved her bloody hand up and motioned for Hinata to get closer.

Hinata obeyed and slowly made her way over. Sakura placed her palm on Hinata's left shoulder. Hinata flinched as the weight of her hand pushed her shoulder down a bit. Then Sakura began her work. The flows of a heavenly green glowing chakra began to move into Hinata's left side, delievering her with a painful sting that faded in a matter of seconds. When Hinata felt completely healed, Sakura's hand fell down and once again, her entire body was hanging off her right arm. Hinata made her way closer to Sakura's body and, as gently as possible, she pulled Sakura's arm out, which had begun to get scratched due to the weight that was inflicted upon it. She was unconscious. Hinata slowly set Sakura's body down to a comfortable position. She didn't want to just leave her there, but she knew she had no choice. What she did however was apply a bit of her ointment heavily on Sakura's wounds, hoping that Kiba could sniff it from where he was at, and take her back to safety. Hinata got up and slowly turned around forming a couple of hand seals. _Time to catch up to Sasuke-san..._Hinata thought. Only seconds after did she spot the familiar figure of Sasuke, standing about ten feet away from where the battle had taken place. Hinata's eyes widened as she realized that he probably heard everything she had said.

Sasuke merely stood there with an angry expression on his face looking harshly at her, Sharingan activated.

**A/N: Sorry… I suck at fighting scenes… I thought it was alright…but… hehehe… that's the best I can do as far as battles… so yeah hope you enjoyed it though. And thanks for all the awesome reviews guys! They're really appreciated.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Hinata looked back to where Sakura lay unconscious for a split second to relieve herself of Sasuke's harsh stare, and when she looked back, it was all gone. Sasuke stood there with a blank stare and began speaking slowly with his eyes now closed " Hinata, you may stay with her if you want... I can see now that you wouldn't go against me..." he opened his eyes again and added "for your own purposes…" Sasuke then stared for what seemed like eternity for her answer.

_So he heard...I didn't think he'd care so much..._Hinata looked up and began fidgeting with her fingers...

"Sasuke-san... I ... wish to go... with you... please..." Hinata looked up at Sasuke who still had the same emotionless stare as before.

"Fine..." he said simply and began walking away... not waiting for her to catch up.

Hinata rushed by his side and slowed down when she got too close, since at that moment she caught up with him, he had turned halfway and thrown her a frown.

_Stop pretending you actually care about me! _Sasuke repeated in his head over and over again. Then he looked back at Hinata who was staring down at the ground and wearing a sad expression on her bruised up face. For a moment there, he actually felt bad for her, then it all melted and again he saw her as a liar, a traitor.

It seemed like they walked for hours due to the tension between them, but finally they arrived to where Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo sat. All of them with worried expressions on their face.

"Sasuke-kuun... are you alright??!!!" Karin squealed out almost immediately.

"Hinata-chan... what happened?" Suigetsu walked up to Hinata and bent his knees a bit in order to be at eye-level with her and inspect her face. She had a couple of scratches on each cheek and a bruise on the lower left side of her lip. " You're all beat up..."

"I-I'll be ... okay... " Hinata responded, not looking at him. She looked over at Sasuke, who was being hugged by Karin with an annoyed expression on his face, and looked away.

"So what are we doing now?" Juugo asked. Apparently he didn't care at all about Hinata or Sasuke's condition.

"I suppose we'll rest here... " then he turned down to Suigetsu who sighed and faced him with a frown...

"Yeah, yeah I know" Suigetsu said putting his hands up to admit defeat. _I __guess __I'll __be __putting __up __the __tents __until __this __whole __damn __shit __is __over..._He looked at Hinata one last time, then walked over to where he had placed his bag and began taking out the sets...

"See... aren't you glad now that I stayed and packed the rest of the tents?" he looked up at everyone and was responded by a frown by everyone, but Hinata who just showed him a small, merciful smile.

"Ehh... whatever... you know you are..." Suigetsu looked back down and began the assemblage.

Hinata, for once, didn't rush over to help him. She just stood there looking down, with a depressed expression, stealing glances from Sasuke every now and then. He just stood there, looking at nothing in particular. He seemed to be in a daze. His eyes were frozen right in front of him. Hinata looked up and saw Karin also staring fixedly at one spot. And this spot was Hinata herself. Her expression was that of shock and terror. Hinata looked at her, fully facing her now, and threw Karin a confused expression. Karin merely stayed staring, without responding. Her expression seemed to be frozen into her features.

_What's wrong with her... _Hinata wondered.

"First tent's mine..." Sasuke said as soon as Suigetsu had finished with the first tent. Suigetsu looked up at him and threw him an angry glare. _So __unfair..._

Sasuke began walking towards the tent and Hinata followed. He turned back to face her and said quietly " I want to be alone for a while, come back later."

Hinata was at a loss of words and looked at Sasuke with eyes that threatened to tear up. Sasuke merely looked at her with the usual bored expression and retreated inside. When Hinata looked back, everyone was staring at her. Hinata felt like bursting into tears and slowly directed herself into the bushes and disappeared.

_Why is he doing this? Just when I was beginning to feel more comfortable with him..._

"Hinata-chan..." Hinata looked back to see Karin coming out of a bush nearby. Her cape had gotten stuck and she was pulling it out slowly and without looking at it.

"Hm?" Hinata looked up at her with curiosity.

"I wanted to ask you… have you seen anything recently... anything... unfamiliar, I guess?"

Hinata was baffled.

"Huh... Wh-what do you mean?" Hinata had absolutely no clue as to what Karin was talking about. Then it clicked to her. The time she thought she saw that chakra flow and Karin had mentioned something about it... Could this be what she was talking about?

"I... sensed something... well, someone... earlier today before Sasuke went into his tent..." Karin looked down and pressed one finger to the center of her glasses. Her eyebrows were furrowed forcefully downward and she was biting her lip in nervousness.

"I... no..." Hinata responded doubtfully.

Karin looked up, but not at her, and frowned... "This is the second time I've felt someone's presence... and I think it's the same person... It just goes away so fast..." Karin looked around with her face in a state of alert and then looked back at Hinata, who had begun biting her nails...

_Should I tell her? No...I'm not even sure I saw anything..._Hinata looked down and shook her head, resting her hands next to her sides.

"Hmmm... okay, I guess I'll leave you alone for now..." Karin looked at Hinata one last time with a suspicious look and then walked off into the same bush she had gotten stuck on.

When the rustling ended, Hinata relaxed again and sighed. Then she looked down and let the sweat on her face drip down onto the ground. Was it sweat? She couldn't tell anymore.

She sat down with her knees up and dug her face into her arms. For a moment she just sat there and thought of nothing. Nothing at all. She didn't want to go back to where they were. She didn't want to go back to Konoha, either. So she just stayed there. She would stay there until someone went to retrieve her.

"Hinata."

Hinata looked in the direction of the noise and saw Karin standing there with her arms crossed in front of her. She really felt something out there. She needed to know if Hinata was hiding something...

Hinata didn't realize her eyes were glazed over and reddened, and when she looked up, Karin forgot all about this presence.

"Just what happened back there?" Karin asked and sat down next to Hinata facing her, just as Hinata's face once again, sank into her arms. Then the sniffling started and Karin began to panic.

"Hey... Uhh... stop? Hinata... quit it... that's not gonna help..." Karin's eyes were wide with worry towards the helpless girl and her hands were flinging around Hinata, not having the slightest idea where to land. After waving around aimlessly, Karin's face became serious, and she gave Hinata a hug. Hinata's face lifted minimally, due to the tears that spread over her face. She looked at Karin and her crying stopped.

"You do love him, don't you?" Karin spoke softly, still holding on to Hinata's trembling body. Her eyes were shut and she wasn't sure if she cared anymore. Sasuke was cute, yeah, but did Karin really have feelings, other than lust for him? Recently... she wasn't sure... but the one she had been looking at the most was Suigetsu... Which confused her. She didn't even want to think about the possibility of this being true.

Hinata merely looked back down and her face became pink... "I don't know..." she replied softly, looking further down. She knew Karin had _something_for Sasuke... and she wasn't sure if Naruto still held a place in her heart. It was difficult to know... who she cared for more in a more-than-a-friend way. "How do you know for s-sure?"

Karin looked up in surprise and then looked back down, smiling... "Hmm... Well, I don't know myself... you just feel it...it's not one specific feeling either... they can make you feel nervous, angry, confused, and happy... all at once, even..." Then she looked over to Hinata, who had stopped sniffling and was looking at her with a tiny smile. Her nose was pink over how much she had rubbed it.

"Don't take my word for it though... I... don't even know...myself..." She smiled and began to stand up, brushing the dust and leaves off the back of her outfit. Then she looked down at Hinata. "You're not as bad as I thought you'd be...so cheer up. Yeah, I actually care", she said and turned to leave.

"K-Karin-san... is he s-still mad?" Hinata asked shakily with her head down.

"Just give it a couple more minutes and he should be fine... I don't know what you did... but you really pissed him off." Karin said, adjusting her glasses with her index finger.

Hinata lowered her head even more at this remark. She hadn't meant to...

Karin noticed this and added, "but, then again, it's Sasuke... he's always upset about one thing or another." It was true too. Sasuke always seemed to have something or other bothering him, he was never EVER happy.

After she saw Hinata's face light up, even if it was the smallest bit, she took her leave at last, waving bye to her and finally disappearing into the bushes.

Hinata looked up blankly and leaned back into the tree. She had no idea how long it would take Sasuke to calm down.

_Oh well... like Karin-san said... crying about it won't help...I should just take a walk or something... _"Byakugan" she muttered softly and looked around to see if any springs or anything were available in the area. She lowered her hands in defeat when she didn't see any and merely began walking.

She didn't even bother to look up and acknowledge the surroundings. She was too frustrated to do so. Her Byakugan was still activated and all she could see was black and white. _So __empty...__Sasuke__-__san...I hate you... no... i don't... _She stopped where she was and Hinata brought her hand up to her chest and closed her eyes. Her eyes began to water again and she shook her head. _I __have __got __to __stop __this... _She thought ashamed of herself and began running, there was no destination in mind, but that was all she could do for the moment. There was no use worrying about anything anymore. All she would do was cry, and that was just humiliating. She couldn't make that her only option anymore. She had to change...

She would rather run in frustration than cry in frustration. So that was what she did. She ran and ran. The stress that was being inflicted on her body was actually distracting her from any other unwanted thoughts, so she kept going.

She didn't know how far she had ran, when out of nowhere, a glance of blue chakra appeared right in front of her. It wasn't moving out of the way either. Whoever it was, either hadn't noticed her about to crash into them, or just didn't care.

Hinata tried stopping as best as she could, in order for her not to bump into this person, and she succeeded. Her face came within an inch away from the strangers, who still hadn't budged from the spot. She stood there for a split second trying to catch her balance by flinging her arms in circles, but her sudden change of speed, as well as this person's proximity, caused her to stumble backward onto the moist ground.

_Is this person even real? I know he sees me... yet... he doesn't move... no reaction whatsoever..._

She flinched for a moment at the pain and the aching of her legs. Hinata looked up and saw chakra circulations forming a human figure. _Who __is __this? _Whoever it was, still hadn't moved at all...The chakra felt familiar... but it wasn't...She knew she hadn't felt this before... or had she? Her eyes widened when she recalled that chakra flow she had seen a few days back. The exact same one Karin had asked her about earlier. In fear she deactivated her Byakugan and looked up at the figure instantly recognizing the Akatsuki cloud symbol engraved on a black cloak.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Hinata let out a small squeal and looked up at a young man with raven dark hair and Sasuke's eyes. She was frozen in fear.

_Why… did I have to find… him… the one Sasuke wants to defeat…? _Hinata looked into the man's eyes and shivered… She knew at first glance that this was Sasuke's brother, Itachi. The one who had hurt Naruto-kun, and Sasuke as well. The eyes had given it all away.

He was staring down at her with a bored expression. Apparently he wasn't affected by how close she had been to crashing into him, as he stood in the exact same spot as always. He was still facing her, and she began to wonder, if he had always been facing her… If he had been watching her… She knew at once that it was his chakra Karin had sensed and the chakra flow that Hinata had seen before. She shut her eyes tight in fear, as if waiting for death itself.

_I don't want to die yet… I want to fix everything… _

Hinata opened her eyes when nothing happened and found Itachi still unmoved. _Is he even alive? _

He was still staring at her and then he smiled, kneeling down in order to be face to face with her.

"Wh-what do you want?" Hinata squeaked and shut her eyes, in order to avoid looking into his. She knew what Itachi was capable of, and she would rather avoid it. She had heard about his technique, the Mangekyo Sharingan, which would allow her to see an illusion for seventy-two hours. And all it took, according to what she heard, was one look into his eyes.

"Look at me…"

His voice was deep and calm. It didn't sound threatening at all, in fact, Sasuke's sounded more menacing that his did.

Hinata merely shook her head no and kept her eyes completely shut. His smile faded and he placed one hand under Hinata's chin, tilting her head upward so she could face him. Tears began to spill from Hinata's shut eyes and she began to whimper softly. _This is it… He's trying to cast genjutsu on me…_

"Look at me…" he repeated, this time more softly.

Hinata kept her eyes shut and stuttered "wh-what do you w-want?"

Itachi put his face close to hers and waited for a second for her to listen to his command. She never did. He looked down and then looked back up at a tearing Hinata. _This is useless..._ She definitely knew all about him already... Itachi formed a seal with his hand and got closer to her, whispering into her ear "You know... I don't need to look into your eyes... pointing at you is sufficient..." With that Itachi's hand seal took effect and he was gone.

Hinata kept her eyes closed until she felt him completely gone. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Nothing. No Itachi…She quickly activated her Byakugan and looked around… to find no chakra flow either. She couldn't sense him at all anymore either… _How?_

She deactivated her Byakugan and let herself sprawl on the floor. She could feel the moisture seeping through her clothing as she breathed softly, trying to calm down… _How could he disappear so suddenly? Was I dreaming, no…. Is he just that powerful? I hope not… I don't want Sasuke-san fighting someone he doesn't have a chance against… Should I tell him about my meeting with Itachi-san? Why didn't he kill me?_

Hinata opened her eyes and breathed in, her heart rate was beginning to sound normal again. She sat up slowly and got up, facing where their tents were resting, or where Suigetsu was still assembling them. Hinata smiled weakly at the view of the forest. It was completely dark by now, and the forest was extremely dense. The variety of the plants was unbelievable. Hinata smiled nervously and decided to begin walking towards where Sasuke was either being angry or sleeping… or… maybe, just maybe wondering where she was… Hinata blushed at this thought and dismissed the idea right away, not wanting to gain false hopes. She wasn't sure what kind of affection she felt for Sasuke, but she was sure something was there. So thinking he feels the same way would only lead to her hurting later on. It had happened once with Naruto-kun… He had told her he liked people like her. Apparently, she had thought too much of it and as time passed, she saw that Naruto-kun liked people like Sakura-chan a lot more… So that was that…

Hinata looked down and smiled at the memories she held of Naruto. Was is really _that _kind of love? Or was it just an endless amount of admiration? Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure anymore…

Hinata kept walking, her pace becoming slower and slower as she began fiddling with her fingers and smiling subtly to herself.

Then she stopped and realized that her meeting with Itachi hadn't had as big an impact on her as she had thought it would. For some reason, he didn't alarm her so much. She wondered why, and realized that the only reason she had gotten scared was because of the reputation Akatsuki had around Konoha. Itachi didn't seem so dangerous to her, and she had no idea why.

_Maybe it was because he could've cast genjutsu on me anyway... but was he being honest... to cast genjutsu without even having to look at you... It was unbelievable._

He didn't seem like a brutal, blood-thirsty, S-ranked criminal that had ruined Sasuke's life. To her, he seemed like a person who just kept to himself. Someone who didn't like bothering anyone.

She was wondering if she had gone crazy... It was Uchiha Itachi, after all... and he had just left... disappeared, was more like it. And she was fine. He had spared her. The shock had worn off immediately. Her head tilted sideways and she looked up with a confused expression on her face. _I wonder what he did to Sasuke... There's no way Sasuke would hold so much hatred towards Itachi for nothing..._

_Sasuke... I wonder if he's still mad at me... _She didn't want to go back if he was just going to tell her to leave again. What was the point? She stood still, facing down, trying to decide whether to go back or not. _Hmm... I guess I'll go back and just stay out of his tent... besides... Itachi-san might still be out here... _

Hinata looked up and her eyebrows shot up in confusion... _Did I just call him Itachi-san??_ She realized it wasn't the first time in the last twenty minutes either. Then she shook the thoughts away, and began pacing back to the tents. She walked slowly back through the gorgeous vegetation, not noticing anymore. She was really hoping Sasuke would let her come inside the tent, at least.

She knew that greeting a Sasuke with open arms was too much to hope for... and maybe she wasn't really ready for that, anyway. She looked down and smiled blushing lightly and began playing with her fingers thinking about Sasuke ever hugging her. Her smile faded and she became dizzy holding her head as she reached the tents. Suigetsu was sitting outside besides Juugo, who was sitting nearby waiting for Suigetsu to finish up with his tent. Suigetsu's face was red by now and he was smacking down at the stakes with a rock with tremendous force.

He looked back with a frown at Hinata and she immediately jumped up to help him out. His expression softened a bit and he kept working, now with an indifferent expression on his face. He eyed Hinata, who was now kneeling beside him helping him ground the stakes down into the ground. He smiled at her goofily and then got up when he was finished with Juugo's tent.

Juugo completely ignored both of them and walked straight inside.

"Oyasumi... Juugo-san..." Hinata's voice trailed off when she noticed Juugo was already inside his tent. Suigetsu smiled at her again and then turned to face Juugo's tent.

"YOU'RE WELCOME!!!" Suigetsu screamed loudly and then smiling after hearing a couple of grunts.

"Hah, good enough, ne?" he looked at Hinata with one eye closed, the other eying her sad expression. Then he looked down and sighed heavily.

"Hey, stop worrying about it... go over there and just stomp right in there and demand your hostage rights." He grinned widely at her, showing off his sharp whites, and then just smiled, when he finally got her to giggle lightly.

He looked up at her and moved towards her. When he approached, Hinata just stood there looking at him with confusion until he turned her over and began pushing her towards Sasuke's tent.

"S-Suigetsu-kun... I-I don't w-wwant to bbbother S-Sasuke-san..." Hinata struggled to hold her stance, but failed miserably in doing so. When she was only an inch away from Sasuke's tent, Suigetsu stopped and said softly to her ear "This is it..."

"Suigetsu-kun, p-please stop..." Hinata said weakly with her eyes shut tightly.

"Nope... You're going in there alright.."

"Ok, I-I'll go... j-just let me re-relax for a moment... please..."

Suigetsu merely looked at her in suspicion, one eyebrow pulled up, the other down. He put his hand up to his chin and stood in thinking pose for a second before coming to a conclusion.

"Alright... but you gotta promise... you'll go in... soon..." He said with one finger swaying back and forth, lecturing her.

"H-hai..." She said and smiled nervously.

Suigetsu turned around quickly and looked back at her one more time, pointing a finger accusingly at her and then finally disappearing into the tent.

Hinata breathed out a sigh of relief and stepped hastily away from Sasuke's tent.

She then stumbled down and sat in learning position. She breathed out and then sighed again, louder this time. _What am I gonna do?... _She stared outside Sasuke's tent and looked down again. _Ok, this is it..._

_Ok... what am I gonna do... ?_ Hinata sat outside... half an hour later still wondering what she was going to do about Sasuke... At least she had eliminated one of the options...

_OK, so I can't go inside Sasuke's tent... but... I don't want to sleep out here, either... _She looked around, and all of a sudden the imagery turned into a scene out of a horror movie. She was getting restless... or maybe she was just sleepy. Her eyelids began to get heavy and she began blinking rapidly. _I'll just go ask Suigetsu if I can sleep with him and Karin... _She slowly stood up and straightened her legs out... She felt as if she had no sense of balance for a second. When she finally caught her balance, she began walking towards the tent Karin and Suigetsu were sharing. She kneeled right outside the tent and whispered Suigetsu's name softly.

Suigetsu shook for a bit, grunting moodily and finally looked up. He moved his hand up to his forehead and ran his fingers through his hair, leaving them there. He opened his eyes extremely slowly.

"Hinata?" His voice sounded really gruff, as if he hadn't used it in ages, but everyone who knew Suigetsu, knew that wasn't the case. In fact, if you knew him, you'd think maybe he had used it too much.

"S-suigetsu-kun... d-do... i mean... do you mind if I-I sleep in here... with you...?" Hinata looked up at Suigetsu, who was completely awake now...

Her eyes widened when she realized what she had sounded like. "I-I m-mean..." Hinata's face reddened heavily and her arms flew up to cover her mouth.

Suigetsu interrupted her and grinned widely. "Sure... you can sleep right here, Hi-na-ta-chan... " He said jokingly and patted the ground right beside him.

"E-eto...I d-didn't want it to sound-"

"Hinata..." Sasuke appeared behind Hinata and placed a hand on her shoulder... Then he motioned with his head outside the tent and turned around to leave. Hinata merely looked back at a blank-faced Suigetsu and turned around to follow. By the time she stepped outside, Sasuke had already disappeared into the tent.

Hinata paused a moment before going in, taking a deep breath. She knew she was going to feel awkward hiding something like a meeting with his brother from him, but she didn't want to tell him... He'd only get mad at her for not telling him sooner. She breathed out softly and finally walked in to see Sasuke sitting on the ground looking up at her with a serious expression.

"So... Naruto, huh?"

Hinata's face sank and she looked down to the ground in shame. Hinata had no idea how to reply... What was she supposed to do? Nod, and tell him that it was all done for Naruto...? Or tell him the whole story... at first it was for Naruto, then she began caring for Sasuke too much..."

_Can I ask why? Why that moron? I can't ask her that... _Sasuke had no idea why he was so jealous all of a sudden. Maybe it was merely because he never wanted Naruto to beat him with anything. He never wanted Naruto to have more attention. I mean, there were so many girls that liked him and not Naruto, and the one that he is even slightly interested in, is in love with Naruto himself. Not only that, but she had also used Sasuke to help him. _Damn you... Hinata... _

Hinata looked up with an ashamed expression. _This is soooo awkward... I don't know what to say..._

"A-e-eto... "

"Never mind... don't worry about it... you can use us to get to Naruto's heart as much as you please..."

"S-sasuke-san... I-I'm not u-sing you..." Hinata said doubtfully. She didn't even know if what she had done was considered usage... She didn't know because what she had done was all for Naruto, the person she cared mostly for, and not for herself, but she, in a way, had taken advantage that Sasuke was already going after Itachi.

"I said don't worry about it..." Sasuke said laying down and turning away from her.

"A-ano... Sasuke... I'm sorry..."

"So you admit you did use us?" Sasuke asked with a frown, turning slightly to see her eyes watering. His face softened for a second and then it just turned back into a frown and he turned, giving her his back.

Hinata didn't know what to say. She laid down with one hand under her cheek. Tears began to roll down across her face and onto the tent floor. She felt horrible. She had used Sasuke, and she was still doing it. Hinata looked up to see Sasuke was still giving her his back and then looked down once more, shutting her eyes, and crying herself to sleep. Except, she couldn't.

She opened her eyes and looked at Sasuke once more. She wanted to tell him everything... She didn't care about Naruto anymore... Well, she did, but her main purpose now was to make sure Sasuke made it out alive. She couldn't bring herself to do it, though and all she did was think about it.

_I have to do this._ Without thinking anymore, Hinata sat up and crawled over to where Sasuke lay angry at the world.

_I'm going to do this..._

**(A/N: Hello guys! I'm really glad you guys are enjoying my story so much, and I'm trying to update for you as often as possible. Sorry most of my chapters end in cliffhangers, but I think it has the right effect on you all. Thank you for all the awesome reviews you all have provided. They really help. Lol yeah, most of you guessed it was Itachi... and it was! This isn't the last time he's going to show up for her either. But you need to keep reading. Anyway, for the next chapter, you're going to find out wether or not Hinata will actually tell Sasuke her true feelings... or if she'll just chicken out... Thanks again to all of you! And see you on the next chapter! Oh and by the way... I never changed the title... lol it still says working title... if any of you have suggestions please let me know on the reviews or just message me... maybe i wont even change it. Does it matter? Heh, well bye.)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Hinata began approaching Sasuke until she partially loomed above his laying figure. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath holding it in as she lay right behind him. She stuck one arm under his torso and the other above, embracing him in a tight hug. "I-I'm not using you Sasuke-san... please don't think that w-way..."

Her eyes were tight, just like her grip on him. She had tears running down her eyes and they were soaking up Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke's eyes widened when he felt her arms squeeze him. For a moment his pride tried taking over, and he almost pushed her away. He had always been cold to everyone in his life after the massacre. But, now he just didn't want to. His anger had melted away when he felt her hug him... He felt she really cared for him, her care had grown with time, and not just by first sight... He closed his eyes and smiled softly, placing one of his hands atop one of Hinata's.

"I won't..." he whispered incoherently, and turned around to face her. He didn't understand how it was possible for one girl to make him feel so many different emotions in less than an hour. One moment he had been mad at her, the next he had felt jealous, the next he was confused and then finally he felt something he hadn't felt for a girl in the longest time. The only female he had ever cared for before Hinata was his mother, maybe he cared a bit for Sakura, but definitely nothing even close to this...

Hinata opened her eyes when she felt his body shift. Her whole face turned red at how close Sasuke was to her. _He's so close... and somehow... I don't feel uncomfortable... well I do... but, it's only my silly shy side... _

Sasuke looked down at her and grinned at the redness on her face. Hinata smiled back shyly as Sasuke removed a tear away from her cheek. He knew it wasn't the first time he had done this either... and it didn't make him feel _too_ pathetic... What he was about to do next might... He thought about it for a split second, and finalized his choice... _I'm gonna do it... She needs to know she's mine..._ Sasuke breathed out and looked at Hinata.

Sasuke got yet closer to Hinata and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. Hinata's face was a whole new shade of red by now, and Sasuke smirked at this. Hinata looked down trying to hide her face from him and then looked back up at him.

_He kissed me... _Hinata's eyes were wide and she placed her right hand gently atop her forehead. She smiled and closed her eyes. _My first kiss... it was on my forehead, but it was a kiss nonetheless..._

Sasuke lay down and Hinata laid next to him resting her head on his chest.

_He already kissed me... might as well use him as a pillow... _She moved her hand up to his chest and grabbed a hold on his shirt, leaving it there.

She could feel his chest beating rapidly which made Hinata giggle. _At least I know I'm not the only one who's nervous..._

She was definitely surprised... I mean, Sasuke was the number one wanted guy in Konoha. Every girl held a spot for him in their heart. She had no idea he could even get this nervous.

"What?"

Hinata merely shook her head and closed her eyes.

Sasuke sighed and decided to leave it there. This was definitely unnatural for him. People had always seen him as asexual, in fact, he had sometimes seen himself as asexual.

Back in Konoha, most girls, he looked down at Hinata when the word most crossed his mind, had had a hopeless crush on him. But, him being the serious avenger, had never had any interest in them. Definitely not enough to let them into his life... He was an avenger, and he didn't want to go astray. Of course, not one of those girls would have had the power to do that anyway.

He recalled Haruno Sakura being the female closest to him, and he had tried killing her along with Naruto before. So if that was how much he cared for the closest female, the rest were definitely not even worthy of mentioning...

He looked down at Hinata and promised to himself that he wouldn't let her get in the way of anything. He just had to make sure he didn't get killed. Before, he couldn't care less about living or dying after killing Itachi. All he knew was that Itachi had to die. But now...

He looked down again at a sleeping Hinata and smiled. Now he wanted to live... His dead goal of reviving his clan had come back to him... along with a new one that involved living a normal life with someone special to him.

He shut his eyes sleepily and decided to call it a night...

Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and looked down to his side... where Hinata no longer lay... He lay his head back and then blinked before sitting up looking to his right.

Hinata stood looking down with her face redder than ever and she was fiddling with her fingers...

Sasuke's left eyebrow shot up and the other shot down, making a confused expression. Hinata looked up at him and smiled weakly. Then her smile faded and turned upside down looking down again. Sasuke looked at her for a moment longer and then looked at the entrance of the tent, where Suigetsu stood grinning widely.

Sasuke's eyes widened when he remembered what position he and Hinata had fallen asleep in... He looked down so nobody would see the blood rush to his face... He was actually blushing... Nobody but Hinata had to see his soft side... But, apparently Suigetsu had seen it, and he was now grinning like an idiot, ready to let them all know how much he'd seen it...

But he didn't say anything... His reaction towards Sasuke's cuddly side ended there. He merely grinned a little wider, shut his eyes and walked away...

Sasuke looked at Hinata who had lifted her head by now... She looked over at Sasuke and smiled shyly. Sasuke put his face down and frowned.

"I feel like an idiot..." He said putting one hand on his forehead.

Hinata's smile faded and she mumbled something unintelligible.

"What?" Sasuke asked still a bit stunned that they had actually caught him sleeping so movingly with Hinata... his face was twisted into a frown, and his cheeks were a bit red. He had one hand in front of his face now, because he would seriously die if anyone saw him blushing...

"I-I s-said I'm sorry..." Hinata said in a distressed tone.

Sasuke's frown faded and it transformed into a grin.

"Sheesh, you're a dork... Why do you have to apologize for everything?" He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, the simper never leaving his face...

Hinata merely looked at him in wonder... _He's so nice... in his own way... all of a sudden... _

When he glanced up at her, her eyes shot down along with her face and she blushed.

_This girl's unbelievable... _Everything she seemed to do made him laugh ,or smirk, was more like it. He had felt it before... but not like this... definitely not like this... The only other person that made him smile as much as she did was Naruto... but it was for two completely different reasons...

His thoughtful face turned into a scowl when he remembered that Hinata, at one point, had had a crush on Naruto...

Hinata looked up at Sasuke, as if on cue, and her eyes became wide. She was painstakingly bewildered at his sudden change of attitude. Her face went down again and she asked in a faint voice "W-what is it??"

"Heh... Nothing..."

"P-please tell me Sasuke..."

"It's not something I want to tell you... It's something I want to ask you..."

"Eh...?" Hinata stared at Sasuke dumbfounded.

"Wh-what is it?" She asked, unsure whether she wanted to know anymore or not...

"Why Naruto?"

Hinata's face lifted and she looked at Sasuke's face which looked completely serious. He was obviously not going to let it slip. She needed an answer...

"I- W-well... it's because he had so much motivation..." Hinata lowered her head and she bit her lower lip.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke's tone was a bit angrier as he thought she had lowered her face so he wouldn't see her blush... After all, that was his answer to blushing.

"I-I just don't really know if it was just admiration, or real love..." She knew Sasuke wasn't going to believe her even if it was the truth... She knew he wanted to, but it was just too difficult. It just sounded way too convenient for her to say that now...

"Tch, I'm not that stupid..." He said with his eyes closed and crossed his arms... deciding to end the conversation there.

Hinata noticed this and didn't argue... The sooner this conversation was over, the faster he would get over it...

Sasuke looked up at Hinata and said slowly and in an exhausted tone, " I guess we should get going... it won't take long for them to find Sakura and then they'll come after us."

Hinata nodded affirmatively and began to stand up. Sasuke stared at her while she rose. She was so clumsy. She had horrible posture right now. It seemed she had trouble keeping her balance just standing up, yet when she fought Sakura, she moved quick and eventually Sakura was beaten. It just didn't seem to balance out.

He shook his head and exited the tent, not waiting for Hinata. Hinata looked up once she had gained her balance and followed Sasuke out.

Everyone was already outside waiting for them. Suigetsu was grinning, Juugo had his eyes shut and Karin was yawning. When Sasuke stepped out every one noticed. Suigetsu's grin widened so much his eyes shut, Karin looked at him with an unconcerned expression, and Juugo opened one eye and stood up.

Sasuke sighed (with relief because Suigetsu hadn't continued making fun at him) and closed his eyes for a split second. "We're leaving... get the tents Suigetsu..."

Suigetsu's grin faded and he frowned unbelievingly. Then he grunted and cursed under his breath getting up and approaching Sasuke's tent to begin disarming it.

Sasuke stared at him the whole way with those regardless eyes of his and then looked back at Hinata. Hinata smiled as she noticed Suigetsu hadn't mentioned anything to everyone else. Either that, or they just hadn't cared... but that wasn't possible... Karin would've definitely reacted.

Sasuke looked at her and kept his expression serious... _Why Naruto...?_ He put his head down and waited for about thirty seconds before beginning to walk away on his own. Hinata began to follow slowly and then she stopped and looked back. Suigetsu wasn't even halfway done with the tents and everyone else had begun to follow Sasuke.

Hinata looked down and walked back bending her knees and began helping him. Suigetsu looked at her and grinned widely...

Hinata knew what it was about and she blushed lightly. "W-why didn't you say anything to a-anyone else... or d-did you?" Hinata wanted to know. She wanted to know whether or not Karin had cared or not. She knew Juugo wouldn't...

"Nah..." Suigetsu shook his head no and grinned again while concentrating on the tents.

"I just couldn't picture Sasuke in that kinda position..."

"Uhh... Eh.. eheehe..." Hinata giggled nervously remembering how she had cuddled with Sasuke last night. They had finished putting up the tents and she began getting up wiping the dust off her knees. She held her arms behind her and they began to catch up to Sasuke.

Suigetsu put the tent in the bag and began chasing after Hinata, easily catching up to her and then just passing her... completely ignoring her.

Hinata looked at him as he ran by quickly yelling out "HEY GUYS! WAIT UP!!!!"

He waved his arms in the air and ran faster. Hinata tried speeding up, but she just couldn't. She looked down at her feet and then around and she hadn't moved an inch. She looked back up with a panicked expression on her face. Suigetsu's figure disappeared and Hinata screamed "S-Suigetsu-kun..."

Her voice went nowhere. She couldn't scream. _What's happening...?_

Hinata began to panic and she began to move her feet faster... Her body, however, did not move. Her surroundings began to get darker and that's when she stopped. She looked around and saw the forest get darker and darker... Nothing was visible anymore and she was panicking even more. Her knees gave out and she fell to the floor. She held her head in confusion.

When she looked up again Suigetsu was standing close to her, along with Sasuke, Juugo and Karin.

"Hinata...? What's wrong?" Karin asked concerned.

Sasuke's face held the same expression and he was holding her in his arms. _What happened to her? _

Suigetsu looked up at Karin. "I was done with the tents and we were trying to catch up to you guys... and then I realized she wasn't following me anymore."

Sasuke looked at him while he gave his explanation and looked back at Hinata who's eyes were glazed over.

_Did I fall asleep? Was I just really tired?... ... What happened?_

"Hinata... are you going to be fine? We really need to get going, at least until we're safe from any leaf ninjas..."

Hinata looked at him in confusion, but she nodded nonetheless. She got up shakily and straightened her knees. She looked down at the ground and then around her. Daylight was noticeable everywhere.

Then she looked up to see Sasuke staring back at her with the same look on his face. Hinata looked at him with a reassuring smile and waited for them to continue moving.

"I-I'm okay... really..." Hinata said after noticing that none of them had moved and were still staring at her. Even Juugo was staring at her. "Please... let's get going..."

Sasuke looked at her one last time and then began walking in one direction... Everyone followed.

**(A/N: Well, this was the first "cute" chapter... hah... and aww... i got my first bad (or not good) review... but yeah... it happens... anyway, i hope i didn't make Sasuke too too OOC... I think the little relationship they have going on has had enough time to bloom into this... but just review and tell me what you thought about it... and please, tell me how to fix it... don't just say it could have been better, tell me how... make it useful to me... hehehe sorry i took a while to update, these scenes are a bit harder to write for me. Well, hope you guys are still enjoying this. It means a bunch to me. Thanks for reading and for all the reviews, alerts and favorite adds! Anyway, next chapter, you'll find out what happened to Hinata... and you'll see what's going on on the other side... (Naruto's, Shino's, etc. perspectives)... well yeah bye!)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Hinata walked slowly behind Sasuke. _ What had happened? What was that?_

She still felt lightheaded. She was walking with her head down, and she was right behind Juugo, which put her behind everyone else. Sasuke was at the front, and Karin and Suigetsu were walking side by side, behind Sasuke, arguing about something or other.

Sasuke's head was beginning to hurt from their level of noise, and Juugo was just walking with his eyes shut...

Hinata ran her hand through her bangs and held her head for a moment. She was wondering why Sasuke hadn't ordered them to run, instead of just walk.

Sasuke looked halfway back to look at Hinata, and then he turned around quickly, not wanting Karin and Suigetsu to notice his obvious concern for her state. Turns out she was the reason he was letting them walk and not run their asses off.

Naruto yelled louder and louder, commanding the nin-dogs to keep looking.

"COME ON! THIS IS THE EXTENT OF YOUR SNIFFING ABILITY???!!"

Pakku looked ahead to see his actual master standing atop a nearby tree.

"Naruto... calm down... this isn't helping..."

Naruto looked up revealing a trail of boogers down his nose, and traces of exaggerated tears running down his face. His eyes were huge and glossy and his lower lip stood out, trembling.

"B-but Sakura-chan's out there..." His hands beside him, fingers shaking badly.

"I'm sure she's fine..." Kakashi said calmly... _What the hell did happen to Sakura?_ Kakashi wasn't showing it, but he was extremely worried on the inside. Itachi, Kisame, and other Akatsuki members were still out there. Sure, she had taken out one of them... but without Chiyo... Sakura would definitely have gotten killed within the first ten seconds.

"Ehh... she's probably dead..." Sai came out of nowhere and added to the conversation.

"SHUT UP, KISAMA!" Naruto yelled at him throwing him a kunai and then clenching his fists tight with anger...

Kakashi was about to tell them to be quiet when Kiba too joined the group. "Oi, I think Akamaru found her."

"WELL, LEAD THE WAY, BAKA!!" Naruto ordered waving a fist at him. Kiba frowned slightly and amounted Akamaru, whispering something into his ears. Akamaru barked once and sped off...

Everyone stood intrigued by the scene and then finally came to their senses and sped off as well...

"Is she alive??" Naruto asked nervously, giving Sai a deadly stare afterward. Sai merely smiled his usual fake smile and then faced forward again, jumping from branch to branch...

"I think so..." Kiba said seriously. He honestly wasn't sure, but either way, finding Sakura might lead to something else. Something a bit more important...

Shino was thinking the same thing, except, he already knew where and who Hinata was with... Most importantly he knew she was fine... "She's alive, but probably unconscious" he paused when everyone stared at him,except for Naruto who was still busy crying, and he added " I can sense her chakra from here."

_Amazing... _Kakashi thought... _ I barely picked up her chakra a few seconds ago... These kids really have improved... I guess Kurenai did her job..._

"She's really close by now... according to Akamaru..." _ That and my nose..._

Naruto sped up and ran past Kiba and Akamaru, entering a clearance... Naruto froze... the ground was completely cracked and about ten trees had been knocked down and over. His eyes began to well up and he began sniffling, wiping his nose with the front of his sleeve...

"SAKURA-CHAN!!" Naruto screamed and did a hand seal yelling "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu"

About twenty Narutos appeared, all of their eyes swollen and they all spread out and began looking along with Kiba, Shino, and the rest of them...

"She's over here!" Kiba yelled after clearly picking up her scent. He pointed to a tree about twenty feet off and beneath it lay a red spot. Sakura.

"Sakura-chan... " Naruto said and sped off, the rest of his copies disappearing. When he got there he grabbed her and began shaking violently... "Wake up!"

"Naruto... I said she was alive... just unconscious..." Shino said calmly and stood behind Naruto who held Sakura in his arms.

"EHH??!! YOU NEVER SAID THAT! BAKA!" Naruto turned around yelling at Shino, almost dropping Sakura.

Shino's eyebrow twitched as well as his eye. "Naruto, yes I did..." Shino said quietly, his fists tight inside his pockets.

"NO YOU-" Naruto was interrupted by Sakura's soft breathing. "SAKURA-CHAN!!"

Naruto squeezed Sakura tightly pushing his face into her shoulder, sniffling loudly.

"Ahh... Naru-" Sakura stopped when she felt the wetness on her shoulder. For once, she didn't push him off, or attack him violently for touching her... She shut her eyes instead, and hugged him back. She smiled softly and then said " It's fine, Naruto... I'm okay..." Naruto looked up, and Sakura's face twisted in disgust when she saw that part of the wetness on her shoulder was nothing other than his mucus. Her face turned blue and she put it down in anger, clenching her fist tight. "Naruto..." she growled at him.

As Naruto looked up, he was greeted by Sakura's fist, which connected tightly to his left cheek knocking him back a couple of inches. "Oww... Sakura-chan... Why'd you do that?"

He got up with a teary expression and spit out part of a tooth. "Look, you chipped it..." He said, his left cheek now swollen...

"That's what you get..." Sakura said, now sitting up with one fist still clenched tightly.

Naruto put his hands on his hips and said "Hmph... well you sure recover fast..."

"Anyway, who did this to you?? I'll kick their ass!" Naruto said, now more worried than hurt.

Sakura's face fell and she closed her eyes. "Nobody..."

"NOBODY?? WHADDAYA MEAN NOBODY?? THIS DIDN'T JUST HAPPEN!" Naruto screamed loudly at Sakura.

"WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO YELL AT ME, BAKA???" Sakura looked up screaming with a frown on her face. _I definitely shouldn't tell Naruto... he'd hate her... and I know how she'd feel about that..._

"Hmph... fine..."

Kiba stood there quietly giving Shino funny looks. He smelled Hinata... on Sakura... Did that mean... Kiba kept trying to get Shino's attention by clearing his throat loudly. Shino merely ignored him... He knew that Kiba had figured it out by now and he was really hoping he wouldn't ruin it.

"Anyway, the important thing is that you're fine, Sakura... " Yamato said giving everyone a reassuring smile. He was glad she hadn't said anything, but he was trying to change the conversation as soon as possible.

Naruto eyed him suspiciously and then asked "Do you even care who it was that beat her up?"

"I wouldn't worry about it..." Yamato continued... getting nervous.

"HOW COULD YOU NOT BE WORRIED ABOUT IT?? THEY ALMOST KILLED HER!!"

"AHHH... NARUTO, YOU IDIOT, IT WAS HINATA!" Sakura screamed frustrated with Naruto's yelling, and then lowered her head in shame when she realized what she had said.

Naruto stood there dumbfounded... _Hinata... Why would she? _"What's going on?" Naruto said in a quiet voice. He couldn't believe it. Hinata had practically killed Sakura-chan? Why? He had completely forgotten to recognize that Hinata was safe...

He was staring out into nothing, confused as hell.

Sakura looked down and began explaining. "She's with Sasuke..." She said ignoring everyone's glares... Naruto deserved to know...

Naruto's face rose and his face showed a furious expression. "WHAT???"

"She's trying to bring him back..." Kakashi said, not caring anymore... Sakura had already ruined it, anyway... and no matter how many explanations they could provide, Naruto would remain ignorant to them. All he knew was that Hinata had left... and had beaten Sakura... which meant she was helping Sasuke escape.

Naruto remained silent and thoughtful for the remainder of the day. The next day... when Sakura was fine again, they began moving... and Naruto still held that same serious expression. _Hinata's gonna pay..._

Hinata was trying harder and harder to catch up to everyone, who were all racing through the trees. Hinata had informed them that Naruto and the rest had began moving fast again. Last night had been the best sleep ever, for everyone except Hinata. She was becoming paranoid. She still didn't know what had happened to her earlier... She had been waiting for it to happen again at any moment. But, it hadn't up until now. Everyone knew there was something bothering her, but, typical Hinata would only smile and tell them not to worry about her.

Sasuke would glance back every now and then, making sure she was fine. She was the last one in the group, but she wasn't too far behind. "Hinata, check again" he said seriously.

"Mm. Byakugan" she said with her voice trembling. "I-I can't see them anymore..." she said between breaths.

Sasuke nodded and said "then we stop here..."

Everyone took a pause and tried to catch their breath before jumping down to the ground. Hinata fell to her knees and took long, deep breaths. Beads of sweat ran down her face, spilling onto the tree trunk. Her hands clutched her pants tightly and she was panting quietly. Sasuke, once everyone had dropped to the floor approached her and lowered himself to his knees to come to level with her.

"You okay?" Sasuke said trying to look at her face, which was completely lowered.

She didn't look up, but she nodded anyway. "I'm just tired... I'm sorry I'm so weak..."

Sasuke frowned. "Stop apologizing already... it's annoying..." he said rather harshly.

Hinata looked up and she was about to apologize once more, but she stopped herself in time and simply nodded her head.

Sasuke's expression softened and he rested one hand on one of her shoulders. "Let's go... we can rest down there..."

Hinata slowly shook her head. " I wanna rest here... please." She looked up at Sasuke blushing and then lowered her head again. Sasuke couldn't tell if she was just tired from all the running or if she really was blushing. Sasuke nodded and sat down completely. Hinata stayed where she was and stretched out her legs. Her muscles ached like crazy. After a few moments of just staring at her feet, she laid back, resting her head on the tree trunk. She stared up at the tiny glimpses of light blue that were noticeable through the trees. Sasuke sat across from her for a while and then decided that she wasn't gonna invite him to go over and rest with her. So he merely stood up and jumped down, looking for a spot to seclude himself from everyone else. Hinata didn't notice and merely closed her eyes.

Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo were taking naps already, all spaced far away from each other. Sasuke the same... except he wasn't napping. He was merely resting his eyes.

Hinata sat up slowly again, taking her cape off, and deciding to use it as a pillow... She really wanted to sleep comfortably, at least for a little while... She then laid back down on her side and brushed any stray strands of hair away from her face. She stared forward and then activated her Byakugan, just to make sure Naruto's team was still completely far away from them. When she didn't see anyone nearby, she shut her eyes again and put a hand beneath her face.

"Hinata..." Hinata's eyes fluttered open slowly and she sat up, now alarmed and looking around. _Who was that?_

"Sasuke...?" She knew it wasn't Sasuke, but she didn't want to guess anything else. She looked around one last time and was about to lay down once again, when a crow flew at her, landing on her leg. Hinata flinched and moved her arms up to guard herself. When she noticed it was a crow she slowly let her arms fall back and she stared at the crow with a weak smile. _It's only a crow..._

As she looked at the crow, she began to notice there was something strange about it. It's eyes...

Hinata's eyes widened and when she looked up, she saw none other than Itachi standing in front of her, staring down calmly at her. Hinata stared at Itachi, not bothering to close her eyes this time...

Hinata's face dropped and she slowly let out the words "It was you..." She realized that he had been the one that caused that little illusion just hours ago...

Itachi ignored her accusation and squatted down to her level. Hinata began feeling slightly scared, but she knew she couldn't do anything against him anyway. Calling Sasuke or anyone else would only get them killed. Hinata lowered her eyes to the right bottom corner and just sat there. "Wh-what do you want...?"

"I want you to remain calm about this..." Itachi said quietly. "and tell me what my little brother is up to..."

Hinata looked up at Itachi, who was looking at her intensely. Hinata remained quiet and shifted her gaze down to the floor again. "I-I can't tell you..."

Hinata looked up with fear and saw Itachi's face hadn't changed. He lowered his head and shut his eyes. "Heh, I don't even know why I'm asking this... I know he's trying to kill me..." Hinata's eyes widened and she looked at Itachi and saw a small glimpse of sadness in his eyes.

She was completely confused now. That was all Itachi wanted from her? To ask her what Sasuke was up to? A question, that he already knew the answer to? Why was he sad? Did he really care about Sasuke? What had he done to him to earn his hatred?

"I should probably just let him" he said, the sadness becoming noticeable in his tone.

Itachi looked up at a confused Hinata. She wasn't saying anything.

She was perplexed. Itachi, the one who had the worst reputation around Konoha, for being Akatsuki, looked sad. She felt sorry for him... _He actually cares?_

Itachi hated to admit it, but at this moment, just now, he needed reassurance... He hadn't had it in so long... and he hated to admit this as well, but Itachi still held some brotherly love towards Sasuke. _This girl... does she ever say anything useful?_ "Well...?"

Hinata opened her lips and formed a question for Itachi "Wh-what did you do to him..?"

Itachi smiled. He couldn't believe it... Instead of telling him something useful, she just brought up exactly how he had completely fucked up Sasuke's life. "Ask him yourself..."

Itachi gave Hinata one last look before he disappeared. Hinata was speechless. Now she had to know what had happened. She would go up to Sasuke and demand that he tell her what happened. She honestly felt bad for Itachi. His sadness looked genuine. All of a sudden, she wanted to make Sasuke forget about his revenge... She knew better than anyone else... that revenge never solved anything... Neji had learned that the hard way, and now he would feel guilty every once in a while, when he thought about the harm he had caused Hinata...

Hinata had forgiven him, and she wanted Sasuke to do the same... First, however, she had to know what he had done...

Hinata couldn't sleep for the next couple of minutes, so she decided to stay awake and used the time she had to think of how to ask Sasuke... and make sure she sounded urgent enough for him to tell her this time. She sighed and thought to herself. _This might take a while..._

**(A/N: yeah, this is the end of the chapter... sorry if I made Itachi completely out of character... I just really believe that he's not completely evil... and i really do believe that he still cares about Sasuke... Anyway, sorry my endings come out of nowhere... i usually base them on the length of the chapters... yeah sorry this one took a while to update, it's just that i was stuck trying to decide wether to give naruto and sakura a cute moment, or a funny one... so yeah, forgive me... (TT) anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and see you next chapter.)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Hinata looked at her feet as they stood inverted on the grass... Sasuke lay just on the other side of the tree trunk. She put up her arm and pressed her fingertips lightly on the trunk... _What if he says it's none of my business? _She put up her other arm and put her index on her lower lip. It was a habit she had always had... Neji had seen it as a point of weakness... But that was over now...

Her eyes drifted to the bottom left and she lowered her face in the same direction. _He owes me a question... no, he owes me two... _With a newfound confidence, she moved forward clumsily, her feet inverted, and she peeked from behind the tree.

Sasuke lay there, unmoving. He was leaning back against the trunk and his arms were crossed in front of his chest. His eyes were closed and his breathing was soft and in rhythm with his chest. Hinata smiled slightly and blushed. _He really is handsome..._

She brought one hand up and rested a finger on her lip. _Here I go..._

"Psst! S-Sasuke-kun..." Hinata said lowering herself onto her knees. She sat on top of her folded legs and began gently tugging at his shirt... "Sasuke-kun?"

She said it lower this time, it seemed he wasn't going to wake up, and she couldn't bring herself to shake him any harder...

As she got up and readied herself to leave, he felt Sasuke grab her hand, holding her back. One of his eyes were closed and the other was looking at her.

Hinata looked at him confused. _What is he doing?_

"Please stay with me..." He looked away with his one open eye and put his head down, releasing his grip on her hand.

"S-Sasuke... are you okay?" Hinata said, bending her legs beneath her once again and leveling herself out with him. Hinata looked at his face. He looked so scared.

He looked at her and his gestures softened. He smiled a bit and then nodded. "So what did you want anyway?"

He caught her by surprise and for a moment, she didn't even think she was there for a reason, other than to just be with him... But she did have to ask, and now would be the best option... "Sasuke..."

Hinata looked down and began fiddling with her fingers. "A-ano... Sasuke... i... do you remember the... two questions you promised me?"

Sasuke's smile, as small as it was, faded, and his face turned completely serious... He nodded.

Hinata looked up at him and looked back down in a flash when she saw his expression. "Well... i would like to use them... now..."

Sasuke merely sat there, now with his arms crossed in front of him. He had a scowl on his face and he was looking down as if he was ignoring her...

After about five minutes of silence, Sasuke suddenly yelled "Well?!!! What the hell do you wanna ask??"

Hinata flinched and she recoiled... She put her arms up protectedly and her eyes began to sting. Her mouth was dry as was her throat, and she couldn't bring herself to speak anymore... not to him...

She looked at him with wide eyes as Sasuke merely glared back at her... "Are you going to ask me something or not??"

Hinata shook her head violently and stood up, one arm in raised in front of her. She took one last look at him and began walking off. Sasuke's face softened and he immediately regained the angry expression. _Why the hell do you have to have such a bad temper?_

Sasuke got up and began walking after Hinata, who wasn't too far away. He grabbed her by the arm and flung her around. Hinata looked at him with widened eyes, and he noticed the tears.

Sasuke looked at her and then automatically felt horrible. Why was it that he could tell anyone else the meanest things and not give a shit, yet when it came to Hinata, guilt spread all over him... She was definitely special.

Sasuke smiled lightly and looked down at her... His expression read sorry all over it. Hinata couldn't stop, though and she kept whimpering. _Shit... what the hell did i do??? now i have to apologize to her..._

He grabbed her by the sleeves and pulled her close, embracing her in a tight hug... She looked up at him and looked back down blushing. Then she merely rested her head on his chest and shut her eyes, letting the tears fall out.

"Okay... now I owe you three... so how 'bout you ask me one right now." Sasuke said. He just couldn't bring himself to apologize, not even to her, so he merely compensated her... No matter how absurd, or serious the question was, he would have to answer it... He wouldn't forgive himself if she asked and he just made her cry again.

Hinata sniffed and looked up at him, feeling more assured still in his arms. She was blushing deeply and she put her head back down. "I- I think I deserve two... now..."

"Ugh... fine, but you're gonna owe me another one... deal?" Sasuke said grinning handsomely. Hinata merely nodded and smiled.

He finally released her, much to her disappointment, and led her to where he previously sat. When he arrived there he leaned back on the tree, tilting his head back in order to rest his neck. "Go on... Ask away"

He said gesturing with his arms then crossing them in front of him. He wasn't looking at her, in fact, his eyes were closed.

Hinata's expression became serious and she inhaled deeply, trying to enjoy the fresh air that infiltrated her chest, but it just wasn't working. She looked at him again and began her question "S-sasuke... I... e-eto..."

"Go on, before I make you owe me more..."

Hinata looked down rapidly and looked back up. Then she shut her eyes tight and blurted it out "What exactly happened between you and Itachi-san?" Hinata gasped when she realized she had referred to Sasuke's hated brother with respect.

Sasuke merely looked at her with a grave expression. His eyes had gone red and his eyebrows were tight. Hinata immediately regretted the way she had worded her question. But it was just too late now...

Sasuke's face dropped and then he looked back up and glared sharply at Hinata.

"Mind your own business." He spat out at her, who was now backing away in fear. _His eyes..._ They hadn't scared her in so long... but now... they were even scarier than they had been when she first met him...

"Sasuke-san... I'm sorry..." Hinata stammered out dryly as she continued walking back and away from those eyes.

Sasuke took a step towards her and began approaching her. At first slowly and then his pace quickened like crazy. Hinata tried to leave, but she tripped and stumbled backward onto the forest ground. Sasuke continued after her and suddenly jumped on her holding her tightly. Hinata lay frozen on the ground with Sasuke laying on top of her with his arms suffocating her across her waist. Her eyes were also being suffocated and they were tightly pinned against her sides. Hinata felt extremely perplexed.

One moment he was practically charging at her... pissed as hell, the next he's laying atop her hugging her as if she was the most precious thing in the world to him. Was she?

Hinata's eyes were wide, and then they widened even more when she heard him sniffling quietly on her shoulder. Hinata looked at his face and her face formed an expression of sadness at the sight.

Sasuke was pathetic. His eyes were bloodshot and his tears had wet practically his entire face. Hinata's arms lifted off the ground and she placed them on his back, closing her eyes in sympathy for him. She didn't know the Uchiha Sasuke could ever come to this state... And if he did, she would have never guessed it would be in front of her... But there he was... Tips of his hair plastered against his face, and sobbing on Hinata's shoulder.

"He... He killed them..."

Hinata's eyes widened... " He killed... who ?..."

"Otosan... Okasan... obasan... ojisan.. everyone... the entire Uchiha clan. He murdered them..."

Hinata's eyes began to swell. It was Itachi-san that killed Sasuke's clan??? Hinata felt weak... she wanted to hold him forever and make sure nothing like that ever happened to him again.

Hinata slowly began to sit up and she pushed Sasuke up along with her. Sasuke released her and sat up in front of her with his legs bent beneath him. His face was covered in shadow, due to his bangs, which were completely disheveled. His shoulders were relaxed and hung loosely down.

Hinata sat in the same way he did and moved the bangs out of his eyes, revealing the most scarred eyes she had ever seen. She rested her palm on his cheek and dried his tears using the sleeve of her jacket...

He looked at her and she smiled lightly, her eyes releasing a light flow of tears. Then, she did as her impulse commanded and she pulled in closer to him, her closeness making Sasuke look up at her in surprise. Her face was dangerously close now and he was beginning to realize what she was about to do. He closed his eyes and waited.

She planted her lips on his and he didn't resist. Hinata's face reddened, her hand still touching his cheek softly. Sasuke merely sat there, unable to believe he was getting his first kiss. Well... second.

Hinata's face moved away and he opened his eyes to find her blushing... madly.

"Sasuke...san... can you promise me something...?" She stuttered forcedly. Sasuke looked up at her...

She wanted to ask him to come back with her... to Konoha. This time however, it was different, this time she felt inclined to make him return, and it wasn't anything dealing with Naruto, or gaining his affection. It was for herself... She wanted him to continue in her life... She didn't want him to die... She wanted him to live... maybe even with her...

He looked up at her with a look of slight surprise, and nodded.

Hinata looked down at his hands and held them between hers. Then she looked up at him. "Can you promise you'll return... to Konoha... with me?"

Sasuke's eyes widened and then closed entirely. He didn't want to go back to Konoha... He knew the punishment would be heavy on him... But looking at her... He just didn't care anymore. He slowly nodded his head and looked at her.

"Can you promise me something?" Sasuke asked, his voice hoarse from the sobbing he had previously let out.

Hinata nodded, now smiling... "Can you promise me you're not doing this for Naruto?"

Hinata's face got serious for a second and then she smiled again, nodding her face as well. He hugged her one last time, before he got busy drying his eyes as well as his face. By the time he looked back up, he looked as heartless and uncaring as ever. He slowly walked away from Hinata to begin searching for the rest of the group.

Then she slowly began walking after him, drying her eyes as well. She was extremely grateful that he hadn't asked why she felt inclined to ask that question. He would be outraged if he found out that she had been constantly bothered by the much hated Akatsuki member.

Sasuke approached Suigetsu and kicked him on his arm... He was leaning against a boulder and his head was tilted back, his jaw wide open and a bit of drool beginning to spill. When Sasuke kicked him, he merely collapsed to the side, not making any reaction whatsoever.

Sasuke's left eyebrow shot up and then he proceeded to kick him again, this time on the stomach. Suigetsu let out a gust of wind mixed with tiny droplets of water. Sasuke looked down at his foot and frowned. _Ugh... I have Suigetsu's skin on me..._He shook it slightly and commanded out loud "Wake up..."

"Ehh...? but I'm still sleepy as hell" Suigetsu said groggily. He put one arm under him firmly and pushed his upper body up. Then he yawned, showing off his sharp rows of teeth.

Hinata looked in awe. Suigetsu caught on and smiled at her... Sasuke glared at him and Suigetsu put his arms up in defeat... "Hai, hai, I'm up already..."

He got up slowly, but surely and brushed off any bits of dust or dry leaves that remained on his clothing.

Sasuke was already kicking Karin by the time Suigetsu had fully awakened. They stood close to each other, all of them and Suigetsu asked "so... where we headed?"

Sasuke maintained his posture and answered cooly " Away from Naruto... baka."

He slowly turned to Hinata and she nodded, activated her Byakugan and pointed towards the leaf shinobi... They were about thirteen miles off... and unmoving... _Maybe they gave up... _

"They're about thirteen miles east of here, but they're not moving"

"Geez, just how bad did you kick Cotton Candy's ass back there?" Suigetsu asked Hinata surprised by how strong Hinata had turned out to be...

Hinata smiled faintly and blushed, feeling embarrassed by her actions... She hadn't meant to hurt Sakura, but helping Sasuke out was definitely priority.

"Good, then we move west... Just as long as we loose them, we'll be fine..."

Everyone merely nodded and sped off in the same direction. Hinata and the rest jumped up and once they gained their balance atop the trees, they began jumping from branch to branch... Juugo in the front this time, Karin and Suigetsu side by side, and Sasuke after them with Hinata not too far behind.

Juugo was surrounded by animals and he was currently trying to shake them off...

Sasuke looked back at Hinata who seemed to be trying to steady her breathing. "Hinata..."

"Mm?" Hinata looked at him and gave him a shy smile.

"I meant to ask... why that last question...?"

Hinata's color faded. The little she had, that is... and her head went down. Sasuke slowed down in order to be side by side with her.

_What was that for? _

"U-mmm... I... y-you hate him so much... and I wanted to know why... since he seem---" Hinata stopped and her eyes widened. One of her hands shot up to cover her mouth.

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks... Hinata stopped right after... She was glancing at him with fear and guilt... Her eyes were wide open and her hand still covered her jaw...

"What did you say?" Sasuke looked up at Hinata, Sharingan activated. His expression full of fury as he slowly straightened his legs beneath him... His fists were clenched so tight, blood had began to drip down from them. (A/N: It's possible if he has nails and he does in this fic... lol)

Hinata merely looked at him as he threw her all his hatred in that single glare... _He'll never forgive me for this... What did I do?_

**(A/N: Heh... sorry it took forever to update, but as heavenleehime knows, i have been really damn busy... yeah this chapter wasn't much but.. i really hope you guys enjoy it... please review and tell me what you think about it... On the next chapter... well just wait... i'll try not to make you guys wait as long as i did this time... but yeah... anyway, i'm open to suggestions... i mean, i have the main point figured out, but if you would like me to add any little side stories between characters, i will (if i like the idea) hahaha... anyway, i'm sorry this chapter took so long. So again i ask for your forgiveness... well yeah see ya next chapter and plz keep reviewing... i wanna know how i'm doing...thanks and bye)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Hinata gulped loudly and right after her throat began to dry up. Her eyes were shaking and she stood there with one hand held in front of her mouth, which was slightly open, and trembling. "A-ano... Sasuke-san..."

"What the hell was that?" Sasuke said, standing stiffly with his eyes set upon Hinata. She tried breaking the stare multiple times, but it was just impossible when so much hatred circled inside the redness.

Hinata was speechless... Maybe she should've said something... but she felt that would cause Sasuke more rage, to know that he had just missed him... Hinata's head finally fell and her eyes squeezed shut, letting a few tears fall to the ground.

_Of course he wouldn't have been angrier... he would've probably been concerned with Hinata and then he would've charged off after Itachi in rage. Blinded by it... _Hinata looked up and realized that warning Sasuke would've definitely gotten him killed. He would've ran after Itachi and Itachi would've easily killed him...

"What the hell did you mean by that??"" Sasuke was screaming loudly at this point and he opened his hand letting the blood drip down... He hadn't even noticed it.

Sasuke looked down and shut his eyes "You've met Itachi?" His voice sounded calm now but his face was still fixed on the same angry expression... His face flew up and he repeated his question, this time screaming it out...

"S-Sasuke... I- I just..."

"Everything fucked up since you came! You were supposed to help me find him, not have secret meetings with him!!!" _You led me astray... you changed my life goal... You... made me feel so many different things again... _Sasuke's eyes began to water... _Why did you of all people have to try and ruin my ultimate goal?_

Hinata moved both of her hands up to her face... Her lower jaw was shivering slightly and her eyes were rimmed with tears. She lowered her eyes to his feet and said almost in a whisper, "I was only doing it to protect you..."

"What's going on?" Suigetsu popped out of behind Hinata and Karin right from behind Sasuke. Apparently they hadn't noticed Hinata and Sasuke stopping until not too long ago and when they came back... "What's all the racket...?"

Sasuke just looked at Hinata with the same angry expression then turned away from Suigetsu. "It's nothing that concerns you..."

"Hinata, doushita?" Suigetsu pushed Hinata's hands away from her face gently and turned back to Sasuke with a glare and a fist tight in the air. "What the hell did you do to her now???"

Suigetsu put his arms around Hinata sitting beside her and let her down to her knees. She sank her face deep into his shirt and sobbed quietly. Sasuke eyed Suigetsu nastily and then finally jumped away.

"Hinata-chan?" Karin jumped over to where Suigetsu held Hinata and laid a hand on her shoulder... "It's ok... Sasuke's just a jerk all the time?" She said smiling a fake smile. Then she frowned putting her hands to her hips and said "I thought you'd be used to it by now."

When Karin saw that Hinata wasn't even sobbing anymore, she just stopped and looked at Suigetsu with a worried expression. Suigetsu returned the look and looked down at Hinata raising his shoulders in order to let Karin know that he didn't know what was going on...

"Hinata... what happened?" Suigetsu asked wanting to see if Hinata was still crying...

"I-I... I... " _I can't even talk... I'm pathetic... Sasuke... Please understand..._

"Shh... It's ok, just calm down... you know tears never solve anything... specially with an asshole like Sasuke..."

Hinata smiled slightly and looked back down... Then she looked back up and asked "Why can't he just listen to me?"

"He doesn't listen to anyone... I mean... you're not just anyone... but that's still Sasuke..." Suigetsu said, failing miserably in comforting the weeping girl.

(Sasuke's POV)

_That... fuck... _ Sasuke was flying past numerous trees trying to hold the tears back...

_And then she just... cries to that fucking shark look-alike... If she's seen Itachi then... he's probably not far... Dammit!_

_I would've found him a long fucking time ago if that... if she hadn't joined us... _Sasuke sniffled a bit and ran a sleeve across his eyes... _Screw you, screw Konoha..._

(Hinata's POV)

Hinata stumbled to her knees and put up one hand to her face to wipe away the tears... "Sasuke!!!"

They didn't notice Sasuke had really left them behind until hours later... Hinata tried looking, but she couldn't concentrate nor stop crying... She was a wreck... and finally Suigetsu made her fall asleep. When she awoke again on Karin's lap, nothing was better. It was as if she never took a nap...

By then of course... Sasuke was gone... Not even Karin could sense him...

"He- H-He went after him... He's de-dea-"

Karin put a finger to her mouth... Hinata looked at her while her lip trembled... along with every other part of Hinata...

"Don't say that... Sasuke may not be anywhere even close to a gentleman... but that also makes him far from a pussy... ... I wouldn't worry too much about him... You really need to calm down..."

_They just don't get it... Itachi is going to find him easily... and if he does..._She didn't know really... Itachi didn't give off that murderer vibe, but she could never be sure... She knew Sasuke would act in a hostile manner to his brother, and Itachi was definitely one who would defend...

She just didn't know what to do... Walking around aimlessly like Sasuke used to do so much... She couldn't risk the possibility of her making the distance between them even bigger...

Karin looked at Hinata with worried eyes... She felt like crying... Seeing someone like Hinata in such a pathetic state could break anyone's heart... The girl just didn't deserve to suffer through Sasuke's immature tantrums...

Karin looked up and away from Hinata and was greeted by a punch to the face... She fell back in what seemed like slow motion and when she regained her view she saw Suigetsu panting and a bunch of smoke around.

"Get up, you idiot!" Suigetsu turned to command Karin and the moment he did he was hit in the back by a rasengan. Suigetsu splurted blood from his mouth and flew forward violently until he crashed into a nearby tree trunk.

Karin stayed where she was and looked up to see none other than Naruto with another replica of him next to him.

He hovered above her, holding another rasengan in hand.

Karin looked up at him and saw something different... This wasn't the same boy she had seen many days ago... This one was full of rage. His eyes were red, his teeth pointed.

Naruto reached down and grabbed Karin by the collar, picking her up easily. "Where's Sasuke???"

Hinata watched from a distance, feeling nauseous at the sight of Karin being so brutally treated... and by Naruto-kun, nonetheless... Her former idol, hero, and heart...

Suigetsu was just next to her, holding her by the arm, making sure she wouldn't run out in the open. He knew they were after her as well, for kicking the shit out of Sakura.

"Well?? Where the hell is he??" Naruto said menacingly threatening her with the rasengan, which grew a little with ever second that passed.

"He's gone! He left us and went after Itachi!" Karin said. Her glasses had been knocked off and her eyes were beginning to water from the blurriness... "Let go of me!"

"Don't fucking lie to me, you bitch! I know you've been helping him..." He held the rasengan further from her as if he was readying himself to hit.

"Ahh! Well then don't fucking believe me then, baka!" Karin looked back and saw Suigetsu getting up slowly. The rasengan had caught him completely off guard... It was a direct blow to his back...

Hinata's eyes were watering more heavily now and she finally screamed " Naruto! Yamete! Yamete, kudasai!"

_Fuck... why didn't i think of that... _Juugo thought letting go of her arm... It wasn't going to help much after this anyway...

Hinata ran out and grabbed Naruto by the sleeve and began tugging violently making Naruto finally drop Karin... At last, the rasengan after growing so much, faded and Naruto focused his attention on Hinata...

His face looked almost relieved for a second and then it turned back to anger when he remembered that Sakura was still back there with everyone else...

"Hinata... I'm going to be as nice as possible about this... but why on earth would you do that to Sakura-chan???"

Hinata looked up at Naruto with tears sliding down her flushed cheeks... "Sasuke-kun... He needed to leave... I'm sorry Naruto-kun... He needed to escape.."

She set off a bomb inside Naruto "SO YOU WERE TRYING TO HELP HIM ESCAPE US???? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG I'VE BEEN TRAINING IN ORDER TO RETRIEVE HIM???"

He paused for a second and looked at her. _Fucking traitor... _"AHHHH!"

He set his arm back, readying himself to strike her. Hinata shut her eyes and waited... for nothing to happen... She opened her eyes and a rope of tiny black insects holding Naruto still...

Seconds later Akamaru with Kiba atop, Shino, Sai, and Kakashi showed up.

"I wouldn't recommend that, Naruto..." Shino walked calmly into the scene.

Kiba immediately jumped off Akamaru and ran towards Hinata. He got on his knees and embraced her in a tight hug. His eyes were rimmed in red and tears were beginning to drip down. " Hinata-chan... I was so fucking worried about you..."

Hinata merely cried some more. "Kiba-kun... Shino-kun"

Kiba turned around and got up dealing a hard blow to Naruto's jaw, knocking him down to the ground and giving him a swollen jaw.

"Temae!!! You were gonna hit Hinata, you fucking idiot!!"

"Sorry 'bout that Hinata-chan... but you see... he got ahead of us... this was not intended..." His lazy eyes shifted slowly to Suigetsu who was now squatting down and holding Karin, yet staring hard at the strangers... The only one he had really seen when he went to get Hinata was... well, Hinata...

Looking at their state, Kakashi added "That goes for you two as well, i guess..."

The two didn't respond...

Kakashi turned to Hinata and got to the point " Hinata, how long ago did Sasuke leave your group?"

"It- It's been hours... Kaka-sensei..." Hinata's eyes began to water again and her face fell. Kiba looked at Hinata and his expression turned from angry to worried.

"And you said he went after Itachi, no?" Kakashi faced Karin, who nodded.

"Well then... we seriously need to find him... Itachi is well... this is no joke..." He paused for a moment thinking hard to come up with a strategy on finding him. _Why the hell isn't Shikamaru here??? _He thought a bit frustrated by the time being wasted...

He looked around and saw that there was no way out of it.. they would all have to split up... not alone, but in groups and just look around... "Alright... this is how we're gonna go about this... we'll split up in all different directions, one person that can track a team and just look around for him... hopefully he hasn't gone too far... or found... ..."

He looked at Hinata and stopped. " Right, so this is how we'll split up... Hmm... which of you can track... ... "

He turned to face Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo... who had just popped out of nowhere...

"I can... and so can Juugo..."

"Right... so then... you can go with him" He pointed towards Suigetsu... and then looked at Juugo... and then looked at everyone else...

"OK, I'll go with hmm... _I cant track so...who do I really need to protect here? _Yeah... I'll go with Hinata... Sai, you will go with Kiba, Shino with Naruto, and", he looked back at Juugo and added " you really look like you can take care of yourself, so you can go with whoever you please..."

He turned back and faced Hinata... "Ready?"

Hinata nodded slowly and then Kakashi nodded. "Jaa, Ikuze..." With that, they all disappeared in different directions...

(Back to Sasuke)

Sasuke was getting restless... He wasn't tired... He was just... pissed... Why...

Why was it that his brother always showed up for people who were close to him... close to him... but just never him...

It just wasn't fair... All his life he sought revenge against his brother and now... when he has the power to do something to him... he just can't fucking find him...

Not too long ago he had found him... Itachi was seeking Naruto, and it just so happened that Sasuke also bumped into him... Unfortunately, he was younger, more powerless as well... He had been told... That he lacked... lacked hatred... He sure as hell didn't now.

"DAMN IT!!! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU???" Sasuke screamed and began leaping again branch past branch...

As he flew past the denseness of the forest, a faint, calm voice reached him... "I'm here... little brother..."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he stopped dead in his tracks. When he turned he saw a small group of ravens coming together and forming his brother. Itachi seemed to walk out of a portal and when he had completely taken his shape, he took a step forward and smiled slightly. " You found me, Sasuke-kun..."

**(A/N: Heh, well yeah another cliffhanger... I'm super sorry... and after i made you wait so long... (TT) please forgive me... well yeah i added a few japanese words in here... if you need translations well just ask... anyway, yeah sorry about the long wait, it's just that i have my hands pretty much full all the damn time... but i love you guys so much that i still make time for this... anyway... i was thinking of making another story later on... it will be gaahina... bcuz well... i love that couple... so much that well... i dunno whether i like sasuhina better or not... so hopefully some of you like that couple as well at least a little bit... please don't get mad if you hate it.. just keep it to yourself please... heh well yup, hope you liked the chapter... thanks for all the reviews and stuff you guys are an awesome source of motivation! Keep them coming plz and well see ya next chapter!)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Itachi stood there, his slight grin still set upon his features. _Why the hell is he smiling??? _

Sasuke's sharingan flashed from black to red. His face fell in anger and he put up one hand to his bangs and pulled harshly while Itachi merely stood there unmoved by his little brother's show of rage.

Sasuke looked back up and screamed "ITACHI!!! YOU'RE DEAD!!!"

With that, Sasuke jumped nearly disappearing and then appeared right in front of Itachi pulling back his hand loaded with Chidori, ready to thrust it into Itachi's face. Sasuke paused for an instant before he threw his arm against Itachi's face. Itachi's image merely blurred then turned into nothing. Sasuke turned back in panic and searched frantically for his brother. His sharingan was spinning madly.

Sasuke put a hand to his katana handle and looked around in circles. _Where the hell did he go?? I'm an idiot, merely attacking head on was fucking stupid..._

"Here I am..." Itachi whispered into Sasuke's ear and then disappeared again... right before Sasuke swung his blade at lightning speed. Once again Sasuke just looked around... confused because of his behavior...

"What the hell are you doing? Come out and attack me!!!" Sasuke screamed. Sasuke flinched and then did about 6 hand seals and placing his hand to his mouth screamed "Gokyaku no Jutsu". His chest puffed up as he turned around and then a huge fireball blasted out of his mouth disintegrating a herd of crows that were heading towards him...

"Sasuke."

Sasuke turned and was met by a flick to his forehead and all of a sudden Itachi stood in front of him, not in the Akatsuki outfit, but in his Anbu one. He was smiling. Not the smile from before, but a different one... One he hadn't seen in ages... Itachi's head turned at the sound of his mother's voice. "Itachi, can you walk Sasuke to school before you head off to your meeting?"

"Nn." He said with a blank face and turned back to Sasuke. He smiled again and began walking towards the door... Sasuke just stood there, completely dazed. "What's happening?"

His gaze was fixed on his mother the entire time... _Okasan... alive?... _

His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of a young boy who ran after Itachi... "Niisan... chotto mate!!!"

The boy turned and waved goodbye to his mother and then sped out the door.

_What?? That boy... it's me... _Sasuke began running towards himself in desperation... He stopped when he found himself whimpering slightly and Itachi bent down on his knees tying his shoelace... "Daijobu, Sasuke..."

"But it hurts..." Sasuke whined a bit more and finally stood up.

Sasuke stared at the scene... His eyes began watering... He held his chest and his body bent at the pain... _ I... can... never re live this... It's all over... my happiness..._

Tears dripped down to the ground as Sasuke's knees slowly gave way and he landed on them... He rested his upper body on his right arm, and held his chest with the other... He was crying uncontrollably now and soon he was down on all fours... He looked back up to see himself holding hands and smiling up at a content Itachi.

Sasuke looked back to the ground and screamed as loud as he was capable of.

"Sasuke-kun!" Hinata gasped when he heard the distant scream.

She quickly formed a set of hand seals and muttered Byakugan. She looked around frantically searching... _Nowhere in sight... Please... Where are you?? _Hinata's eyes began watering for the billionth time that day and Kakashi approached her...

"If we can hear his scream, he can't be that far away... "

He looked at Hinata, who apparently hadn't heard a word he had said... and he let out a breath of exasperation.

He walked towards her, who was still looking around like a maniac. "Hinata, please stop that... you're making me dizzy." He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, she was still doing as before...

Kakashi sighed and grabbed her by the shoulders finally making her stop... "Hinata, listen... This is not going to help... I'll summon the nin dogs and have them search, you shouldn't push yourself so hard." Hinata looked at him blankly with watery eyes and Kakashi thought that was good enough...

He turned and bit his finger then looked back at her, smiling...His smile turned into an expression of horror and sadness all mixed in when he noticed Hinata was still holding the same expression. _Gee this girl is impossible... _He had turned around to face her with his mask completely off and she still looked like she was in a trance... _So much for getting her mind off that... Anyway... _ He turned around and placed the bleeding finger on the ground and mumbled slowly "Kuchiyose no jutsu"

Smoke appeared and amidst it, several dogs appeared. Kakashi pulled up his mask and turned to Hinata, who's face had not changed... Kakashi frowned beneath his mask and then said, rather loudly "Oi, Hinata... don't take this personal... but, have you and Sasuke ever... you know... touched...?"

Hinata's face turned beet red and she finally seemed to snap out of it. "N-Nani???"

"The dogs need to smell Sasuke... would you happen to have touched him... anytime... not too long ago..."

Hinata was still blushing tremendously and she nodded a bit... Her eyes were glued to her feet and she felt like crying... again...

Kakashi chuckled slightly at her response and Hinata looked at him with a slight frown...

Kakashi looked at Pakku who knew just what to do... He trotted over to Hinata and sniffed... Hinata's face was still fixed on a frown and she was looking down at the dog as he sniffed her...

After a few more seconds Pakku nodded and looked at Kakashi " He's pretty far out... It might take a while..."

"Then let's go..." Kakashi replied. He looked over to Hinata who was still beet red and picked her up, jumping off towards Sasuke. Kakashi peeked back at Hinata and saw that her blush was mostly gone and she actually looked serious now... Kakashi smiled. He liked Hinata... She was a very sweet girl... Not that Sakura wasn't sweet, but Hinata was different... She was... weird?? Kakashi wasn't sure, but right now what he needed was to get her to Sasuke as soon as possible...

Sasuke was extremely perplexed... _What is he doing? _

This was the third time he had gotten caught in Mangekyo... and all of them only revolved around the times he missed... Why? Was he not being taken seriously? Just the thought angered Sasuke... All this time... so many years spent on pursuing his goal... and Itachi isn't even taking him seriously..? Does he think this is a joke... otosan, okaasan, everyone.. their death meant nothing to Itachi... Sasuke screamed once again trying to release the anger. "ITACHI!!!"

Sasuke's eyes closed for a moment, and when he reopened them, his eyes now possessed four pupils... It took a couple of seconds for his vision to adjust, but it finally did.

Sasuke looked up and saw Itachi looking down at him at the end of the branch. Sasuke ran at full speed towards Itachi with his sword. Then he saw it... another Itachi, and then another... Sasuke looked around to find the place full of replicas of his brother... _Mangekyo again?_

Sasuke focused a bit and then it was clear... This wasn't exactly Mangekyo, but it was some sort of genjutsu... _To find the real one..._ Sasuke looked around with fury in his eyes. When he saw the real one he only continued looking around. Then, from one moment to the next Sasuke lunged himself at Itachi who's face remained the same.

"AAAAAGHH!!!" Sasuke pulled his sword back and readied himself to strike... As he ran at full speed at his smiling brother, he failed to notice about a dozen kunais and shurikens flying at him. _Kuso... _

Sasuke looked up at the artillery flying at him and braced himself for what was to come... He flinched slightly when the weapons all barely grazed his skin. He caught one of the kunais with his hand and threw it back from where it came... only to see a couple of leaves drop to the ground... _He's missing on purpose... He's just fucking playing with me! _Sasuke exploded and the side of his neck began to beat steadily... He slapped a hand to his neck, but the shapes of black flames spread across his neck. Fast... Sasuke's eyes began changing and suddenly, two hands sprouted from his back...

Itachi's face became serious when he saw his brother screaming in pain as he transformed... _Sasuke?_

Itachi couldn't break the stare. Sasuke turned suddenly and faced Itachi who was only about twenty feet above him on the same tree. Itachi flinched slightly when Sasuke flew at him with full speed...

_Nanda? _Itachi saw Sasuke disappear and then SLAM! Itachi was thrown back as soon as he turned by a direct blow to the face. Itachi fell back and hit a nearby tree and then fell down all the way to the floor. He held one hand up to his cheek and saw that the entire left side of his face was covered in blood. Sasuke had placed kunais from earlier between each of his fingers and each of them had stabbed Itachi's face.

"GOKYAKU NO JUTSU!"

Itachi's eyes widened when he saw a huge fireball coming at him. He quickly disappeared from sight and appeared up on the tree where he had just been. Itachi's eyes expressed sadness as he looked at his brother who was again seeking him out... It didn't take long for Sasuke to face him once again and launch at him. _This is getting out of hand... _As Sasuke flew at him, Itachi focused a bit and...

"Gomenasai, Sasuke-kun..." Itachi lifted a finger and pointed it at Sasuke as he shut his eyes.

"Amaterasu." Itachi's eyes reopened and he looked at Sasuke with no emotion.

Sasuke looked at his back and began to panic as he saw black flames beginning to spread on his wings.

"AAAAGGHHHH!!" The pain was unbearable and suddenly, Sasuke's wings were no more...

Sasuke's limp body began to fall straight to the ground again. When he reached the floor, he screamed once more... His entire back was covered in blood. "I-Itachi..." Sasuke said with all the hatred he possessed. He looked up at his brother who was now standing in front of him. Itachi neared Sasuke and slightly bent his knees and grabbed him by the hair, lifting him up from the ground.

Tears ran down Sasuke's cheeks. _This is the end... _He opened his eyes and looked into his brothers cold gaze... Then he closed them again. _I'm sorry... otosama, okaasan... everyone... please forgive me... I couldn't avenge you... Hinata... I wanted to tell you so many things... _

Itachi pulled out his other arm from beneath the cloak and grabbed Sasuke's collar shoving him against the tree, which scraped roughly against his back. Sasuke growled in pain and shut his eyes tighter... waiting for Itachi to end his misery. But then he felt himself fall to the ground...

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked up at Itachi who was stepping away... Sasuke's eyes widened. _What?_

"Sasuke... If it matters so much to you... go ahead... kill me... I won't defend myself..." Itachi held his arms wide open, and his expression was serious.

Sasuke's expression remained the same... _Is he serious?_ Sasuke looked at Itachi's expression and knew he was...

"Sasuke... If you wish to end my life, I suggest you do it now... You will not see me again if you take no action."

His arms remained the same and his face completely somber. Sasuke got up weakly and reached for his sword.

"Gladly." Sasuke muddled up energy out of nowhere and sped towards Itachi ready to end his miserable life.

"Sasuke-kuun!" The voice was barely audible.

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of Hinata's voice... _No! WHY??? WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE???_

"Not to worry... they're still quite far off, and I've cast genjutsu on them so they can have a harder time getting here..." Itachi said knowing exactly how Sasuke felt for the girl. Itachi merely looked at Sasuke and waited for his response... Deep down... he had always wanted his brother to forgive him... for everything... now he would find out if Sasuke truly hated him enough to kill him...

Sasuke turned back in the direction of the scream and then back at Itachi and then back towards the scream again.

"Time's running out brother..." Itachi grinned slightly. He was trying to egg him on, but at the same time he knew what he wanted Sasuke's reaction to me...

Sasuke regained his senses and once again, charged at Itachi... Itachi saw his brother approaching at mad speed and he put his arms down... _I don't blame you niichan... Everything I put you through, I deserve ten fold... _ He shut his eyes and waited for the blade to penetrate his head or maybe his chest... Then felt a slight commotion right next to him and when he opened his eyes he saw Sasuke gasping for air, looking at him with a shocked stare. Sweat was dripping down his dirty face. Itachi's eyes wandered to his right and he saw Sasuke's sword jammed tight into the tree...

Sasuke backed off of Itachi, leaving Itachi speechless...

"I... I... can't..." Sasuke looked at his hands which were tight with rage. "WHY??? WHY CAN'T I KILL YOU???" His question was directed accusingly towards Itachi.

Sasuke cried madly. He was confused as hell... This was his fucking life long goal, and now that he had the chance to kill Itachi... he just couldn't bring himself to do it...

Itachi stared at Sasuke... His face emotionless... _Sasuke... _Itachi smiled faintly and moved slowly towards a stunned Sasuke. Sasuke looked up at his brothers face and saw him put his hand up near his forehead... Itachi neared his face to Sasuke's and smiled, flicking his finger and making Sasuke blink...

Sasuke stared at Itachi as he backed up slowly. "Sayonara, Sasuke-kun..." With that, Itachi disappeared. Sasuke's body stumbled to the floor. His eyes were wide with realization... The reason he hadn't been able to kill Itachi was because he had been corrupted... His avenger side had completely died out from the time he had spent with... Hinata... Sasuke merely lay there on his side like a child... His eyes were still wide as can be and bloodshot.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke looked up. Her voice was getting closer. A few seconds from then, Hinata's figure emerged from the distance and she was screaming his name like crazy.

Hinata ran as fast as she could towards Sasuke's body... It wasn't moving... but she could still see the flow of his chakra... "Sasuke-kun!!"

Hinata ran as fast as her legs would move her and she stopped abruptly when she reached Sasuke... He was staring straight ahead and his expression was that of fright... Hinata fell onto her knees and grabbed him by the shirt pulling him up and holding him in her arms. Hinata's eyes, as usual, watered immensely and she held him close repeating his name over and over again...

**(A/N: Hello guys... since last time i updated i made you wait an eternity and a half and then left you with a cliffhanger... i decided to amend and update a bit sooner... sorry if this chapter really sucked... I just had a little bit of trouble with Sasuke and Itachi's battle, lol since I'm just no good at battles... hehehehe... sorry... anyway, yeah again sorry if you were expecting an awesome battle... hehehe... (this is directed at stars-san... sorry if i disappoint you... or anyone else who wanted a kickass battle... (TT)) ok moving on... thanks again to everyone who reviews or even just reads it and enjoys it... it makes me very happy to see so many hits to the pages... and it makes me even happier to see reviews on the chapters... thanks!!! anyway, see ya next chapter... if you want a little hint of what's coming up... Sasuke will be taken back to Konoha... omg will he be punished or not???hahahaha well yeah bye guys!!! mwah!)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Sasuke just stood there in Hinata's arms, staring blankly ahead... He closed his eyes, and tears slid down slowly... He wasn't returning the hug, he just allowed her to hold him there.

Hinata sobbed softly, "Sasuke-kun... I thought I lost you..." at a barely audible volume...

_You did... _Sasuke let Hinata hold him for a bit longer and then he broke loose. Hinata opened her eyes and looked down at him... He seemed to be getting further and further away... Sasuke looked back up at her blankly and then finally pulled himself up...

When he did, Hinata's hand shot up to her mouth and she gasped... Sasuke's back was completely covered in blood... She looked at her hands and saw the blood all over them...

_Did Itachi-san really do this??_ Hinata looked up at Sasuke, who had turned around completely exposing his massacred back. After that, Hinata was unable to speak for a while. She was feeling too many emotions at once... She was scared, yet relieved, and that wasn't the end of it...

Sasuke was panting loudly and leaning with one arm against the same tree Itachi had fallen against not even ten minutes ago... _This is unbelievable... I can't... I wasn't able to kill ... Itachi... _With that, Sasuke's vision blurred and he fell forward unconscious. He hit himself against the tree and then fell back into Kakashi's arms...

Hinata looked at Kakashi with a worried expression... Kakashi merely gestured for her to get up and follow.

"Come on Hinata, we need to get him to a hospital..."

Hinata nodded and dried away the tears that had build up in her eyes... _Gomenasai, Sasuke-kun... Now you __have__ to return to Konoha..._

Sasuke's eyes fluttered open slowly and he saw something spinning above him... As his eyes came into focus, he realized it was the ceiling fan along with the white-tiled hospital ceiling. His head hurt, but it was nothing compared to his back... He shut his eyes for a while hoping to get used to the light now... His arm went up and he held his head with his left hand...

When he looked around, he saw people sitting around him... a lot of people sitting around him. Definitely too many people sitting around him...

"Sasuke-teme!!! If you weren't already this fucked up, I would kick your ass myself!!"

SMACK!!!

"Baka, don't talk to him like that, he's hurt, and he just came back..." Sakura's voice trailed off into nothing. Her eyes were teary and she was beating Naruto like there was no tomorrow...

"Guys, shut the fuck up, he's still tired... Man, I would've dumped you all's asses as well..." Suigetsu put his arms behind his head and shut his eyes, waiting for the two loud ninjas to be quiet.

Karin merely stared at Sasuke, unable to say anything... _We should have fought him together... Sasuke, you idiot!_

Sasuke kept searching the room for familiar faces- and saw nothing, nothing that really concerned him really... _Where is she?_

Sasuke didn't know whether to thank her or to hate her... His life goal had been ruined, but it was over now... Itachi made it clear that he wouldn't be found after that battle... Still... His objective was clearly to annihilate his brother... and Hinata... she had changed him... When he saw Itachi, he didn't feel much hatred towards him... She ruined everything. Everything that he had wanted to accomplish, she ruined for him...

Still... _Where is she?_

Hinata looked out the window and cried some more... _I'm such a crybaby... I NEVER stop crying... There's always a tear or two in my eyes... But... But this... _

This was definitely the exception...

Hinata had followed Kakashi back to where the rest of the group was and then back to Konoha. She, along with Kakashi, rushed back into the hospital with Sasuke on Kakashi's shoulder. Naruto was giving her death glares the whole time. Hinata hadn't been there for thirty minutes and already she was summoned urgently upon by her father.

She tried debating with the branch member, Toshio, but it just wasn't any use... The harder she argued the harder he pulled on her arm.

"I'm sorry, but your dad wants you at the household now... So come along, now..."

"But, but what..." She looked at Sasuke who was now being carried away on a stretcher. Then she looked back at Toshio and practically screamed "No!", stubbornly.

When she tried to make a run for it, he merely grabbed her by the arm and pulled.

And here she was now... In her father's study, waiting to be consulted.

_I hope Sasuke-kun is ok..._

The sound of the doors being kicked open was heard and Hinata turned around startled. Her father, Hiashi-sama, along with other main family members walked in. Hiashi in front and two lines of three men on each side.

Hinata jumped out of her seat by the window and pleaded, "Otoosama!! I-I need to go see Sasuke-kun... P-please allow me to be excused..."

Hiashi was startled by his daughter's sudden interest in the Uchiha, and a bit embarrassed as well. He could already hear the council whispering to themselves.

Hiashi turned his head slightly and motioned for the other members of the main family to leave. Hinata stood there, with tears spilling out dramatically from her eyes. She had no idea what Sasuke's condition was at the moment...

"Otosama, please let me leave..."

Hiashi merely gave her a blank stare, and then shut his eyes clearing his throat. "Hinata, I am not pleased with some of the things I have heard of you..."

Hinata looked at her father with pleading eyes, but to no avail. Finally, seeing as to how this wasn't getting anywhere, gave up and decided to answer her father's questions. "W-what exactly have you heard, Otosama?"

"Hinata, I heard you allowed yourself to be kidnapped by the Uchiha, and then..." he paused for a moment, the interest obvious in his voice " that you became _close_."

Hinata blushed and looked down...

Hiashi's eyes widened slightly... _I see... _"So is this true?"

Hinata merely looked up at her father. She could never lie to her father... She merely looked down and shut her eyes. Her mouth opened slightly, but she just couldn't speak right now...

Hiashi merely looked at her daughter and then turned around reaching for the door handle. He stopped abruptly before opening the door and looked back at Hinata. "Hinata, I just want you to be wise when it is time for you to choose..." With that he walked out the door only to encounter all the main family squattling near the door. As soon as Hiashi walked out, they all resumed their business, leaving Hiashi shaking his head in disapproval.

Hinata stood in the room... her face completely scarlet in color. _When I choose? I didn't even know I had that option... _

She looked down for a moment smiling sheepishly with a beautiful shade of pink spread across her cheeks and her eyes glittering. _Being married to Sasuke-kun..._

Hinata snapped out of it and remembered Sasuke's health. "Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke stared ahead with no reaction to any of his surroundings...

Sakura was arguing with Naruto about how Sasuke did not have a short attention span, Suigetsu was dead asleep on the chair, a bubble forming on his nose as he breathed, Karin was holding her ears shut in order to shut out all the noise, and Juugo had his eyes shut and his arms crossed in front of his chest.

He frowned..._ Uzai..._

Sasuke almost screamed with joy when the nurse walked in and ordered all of them out... It took a while but finally they all left. The young nurse sighed and then shut the door behind her as soon as the guests walked out.

Sasuke disregarded her presence in the room and shut his eyes when he saw her bring in a cart with a hospital tray atop.

"Oh no you don't." Sasuke ignored her. He wasn't about to eat hospital food.

The nurse approached and sat on the bed. Sasuke opened his eyes when he felt her sit right next to him. Sasuke moved away from her when he noticed how close she was sitting. _Ugh... I had already gotten used to few or no girls back in the sound village... _He had forgotten how... _flirtatious_ they were here in Konoha... all except for one... Sasuke looked down and then out the window. It was sunny outside.

He couldn't believe that out of all the people that had gone to visit him, Hinata hadn't shown up. He looked back at the nurse and saw her stirring something with his bowl...

"I'm not eating that..." Sasuke said and laid back down only to bolt back up in pain. _Fuck... that really hurt... _A small tear formed at the edge of his eyes...

"Ahh! Dame, Dame, Sasuke-kun!" the nurse said in a high pitched tone that nearly made Sasuke's ears pop and then grabbed his hand slapping it playfully.

Sasuke glared at her. "What the hell are you doing?"

Sasuke turned when he heard a noise just out the window... _Nani... I know that chakra... _He felt it in silence for a bit longer to confirm it...

_Hinata, huh? So she did come..._

Sasuke grinned a bit and decided to play... After all, he deserved it after witnessing so many suihina moments... He frowned at the thought... Then he turned back at the teary-eyed nurse...

"Well, feed me already..." Sasuke gave her his signature grin which practically made the nurse melt.

She looked back at the food and shoved a spoon deep in it... _He better like it..._

She looked up blushing at a still grinning Sasuke... She blushed deeper... _He's gorgeous... _Again she looked at the spoon and began moving it closer to his mouth.

(Hinata POV)

Hinata's face grew red, not with embarrassment, not with exhaustion, not with love... This was anger... Here she was worrying to death about his condition, and here he was enjoying a meal with a slutty-looking nurse...

She looked down at the meal she had brought for him... It was a well-prepared plate of tempura. She frowned and squeezed the sides of the container.

"Mm... Oishi... is this your cooking?"

Hinata activated her Byakugan and looked down at them from atop the roof. Her face turned even redder with anger and she puffed out her cheeks...

_Why that..._

Sasuke was eating contently out of the nurse's spoon... and Hinata just stood there looking, just looking... ...

Sasuke sighed. He had finally finished the meal that the flirtatious nurse had prepared for him, and there she was gathering all the dirty silverware and glassware...

She had a big smile on her face and she was _still _blushing...

Sasuke watched her with boredom waiting patiently until she'd finally just leave... She would throw him flirtatious smiles every once in a while and he'd give her the same grin... _This is getting tiresome... Hurry the fuck up and leave... I'm not used to smiling this much..._

The nurse finally finished gathering all the items and put them all on the cart with a loud clank. She was almost halfway through the door when she paused and looked back at Sasuke...

_Oh my fucking..._

Sasuke stared at the nurse, clearly irritated by now... The nurse walked toward Sasuke slowly and sat down beside him again. Then she leaned in and whispered to his ear "My name is... Emiko..." Then she retreated and finally left...

_Finally..._

Sasuke looked out the window after making sure the door had clicked shut... Then he shut his eyes and waited...

Hinata jumped down and stood on the open window with the lunch resting on her legs...

Sasuke's eyes opened and he looked at her with an uncaring look. Hinata's eyes watered a bit and she muttered "Hope you like my cooking as well, S-sasuke-kun.." she then swung the meal roughly to him. He caught it easily and stared at her with the same expression, except this one held a slight grin... _Heh, she's feisty and she stutters..._

Hinata turned around preparing to jump out the window and head back home. She turned back and mumbled the word jerk at Sasuke's direction... Then as soon as she tried kicking off, she was caught from the waist and pulled back. Sasuke easily set her down on the floor and lay on top of her. Hinata's face grew hot...

Sasuke whispered naughtily to her ear, "Doushita, Hinata.? Jealous?"

Hinata's eyes widened and she tried throwing him off... failing...

When she finally gave up, she turned around facing Sasuke who was grabbing her around the waist and laying on top of her. Hinata looked up at him with a glare.

Sasuke looked surprised... It wasn't everyday Hinata glared at someone... He grinned widely and continued his accusation.

"You _are _jealous aren't you?"

"No!!" Her face reddened and she began pouting.

Sasuke continued grinning and laughed softly... Hinata stared at him with her white eyes wide. It wasn't everyday you saw Sasuke actually laughing... She smiled. Sasuke stopped and looked down at Hinata. There had been so many things he had wanted her to pay for... So many things he wanted to reproach her for... but now, it was all gone... Now he was just glad to be here with her... He could save the accusations for later...

Sasuke looked at Hinata for a bit longer and then leaned in and kissed her on the lips... Hinata's face grew even redder but she closed her eyes nonetheless, and let him kiss her for as long as he wanted... After all, Hiashi didn't even know she was out...

**(A/N: Hello guys! Well, I wanna say that I'm really glad you all, or at least most of you, like the last battle scene... i was really worried I would loose your attention... but yeah anyway, thanks a bunch you guys for reviewing and stuff... i really didn't mean to leave you guys with a cliffhanger the last time, but i kinda base the chapters on the length... hehehe... sorry. Anyway, yeah i just wanted to flip this chapter away from all the sadness and anger and whatnot and give you all a sasuhina moment... hehe, but enjoy it while it lasts... dun dun dun!!! lol anyway, yeah i decided not to kill itachi because well... i like him... lol and i truly do think he cares for Sasuke... but yeah that's just my opinion... well yeah guys, thanks again for all the encouragement, you're very helpful, Bye!)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Tsunade walked through the hospital halls, stomping madly at the floor, leaving hints of cracks on the white marble tiles. _OK, so the traitorous Uchiha is back... I'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget!_

"Tsunade-sama! Chotto matte kudasai!!" Shizune raced behind the angry Tsunade carrying her pet-pig TonTon... Who was bouncing up and down in her arms oinking with every step... Shizune was breathing heavily and then she finally stopped and bent over trying to regularize her breathing... She looked up to see Tsunade disappear behind a hallway. _She had really become fond of Naruto-kun... Sasuke was definitely in for a beating... _She shuddered just thinking of what Tsunade would do to discipline him...

When Tsunade finally reached Sasuke's room, she opened the door violently. When she looked inside, ready to pounce, she did...

"Ahhh... My, did that hurt too much?" She said holding him up in the air by the shirt after punching him to the left wall...

Sasuke gasped in pain... His back had just hit _hard_ against the hospital's concrete wall... _This thing's never going to heal at this rate..._

He looked down at Tsunade... and threw her a death glare.

She countered with a grin. "You really think that look scares me?"

"Hahahahaha!" She laughed, making Sasuke really angry. Especially since Hinata could probably see everything that was going on...

"That was nothing kid, wait till we discuss your punishment... for leaving Konoha without permission and for attempting to kill your former team... "

Sasuke looked at her with a serious expression then he finally let his head drop... _Shit... what if I'm executed... fuck that... i'll run away... and take her with me... it can't get any worse than that... _

Tsunade looked at him and her grin faded... She didn't want to be too harsh on the Uchiha... but, there was a chance that he'd try that same stunt again... She just couldn't have that... Naruto will be kept safe at all costs, at least until he becomes Hokage...

She slowly let go of Sasuke and he dropped down to the floor slowly sliding down to his behind without ever looking up at her.

"Why'd you do it?"

He grinned a bit... "Which part?"

"DON'T PLAY DUMB UCHIHA! DO YOU FORGET THAT IT'S ME WHO WILL DECIDE YOUR PUNISHMENT!!!" Tsunade was becoming angry... She wanted to believe Sasuke would no longer be a threat to Konoha, but the dumbass was making it awfully hard on her...

Sasuke's grin faded once again and he looked down... "I don't know... "

Tsunade put her hands up to her hips and sighed looking up at the ceiling briefly. _What to do? What the hell am I going to do...? _She was tapping her heel nervously on the floor at an uneven pace...

She looked down at Sasuke again. "Well at least answer the question, gaki!!!" She extended her arms out and asked with force...

Sasuke flinched a bit and looked down again. "Heh, and I thought everyone in town would know by now why I made every choice I've made... (up until Hinata...)..."

"Yeah, Sasuke, we all know how much you wanna kill your brother and whatnot... but seriously, to be frank, that's just not a good enough reason to almost killing your ex-comrades, or abandoning Konoha..."

"Tch" He looked away with his eyes shut then he opened one and looked at her adding "I didn't ask anyone to go after me... they kept intruding, and I was growing tired of it..."

"Heh, you're lucky I didn't kill them while I was still in Konoha... both Naruto and Sakura were annoying enough..."

Tsunade looked at Sasuke with disbelief... "Sasuke... you're really pushing your luck here..." Tsunade said grinning evilly and cracking her knuckles making Sasuke's grin fade and making him feel uneasy...

"I got waaayyyy too many good reasons to sentence you to death... first" she picked up her hand and lifted one finger after the other,"you apparently aren't sorry for what you did, second, well you broke about a million rules, and third... how do I know you won't try to leave again...? From what I hear, Itachi is still out there and you failed in killing him..."

Sasuke frowned... _Don't remind me... I don't need to be mad at Hinata again..._

"Right... so, you will remain in the hospital until you are better, and when you recover, you will know of your punishment..." With that, she walked out coolly...

Sasuke just stared at her... _So she's going to wait till I'm better... that means it won't be physical... She wouldn't wait for me to heal if she just wanted to hurt me again... Then again, this was Tsunade... she might have been drunk... _

"Sasuke-kun..." Hinata's voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up at her and then looked back down a bit embarrassed about being in such a pathetic state...

Hinata approached him, wanting to cry... It was hard not to feel bad to see someone as proud and tough as Sasuke all beat up on the floor...

She leaned over and grabbed one of his arms helping him get up. "Hinata... I can walk... I'm completely fine..." His pride would never give in...

Hinata smiled briefly and released him, waiting for him to lay on the bed...

Sasuke reached the bed and let himself go face down... Hinata looked at his back with discomfort... She lay her hand down softly on his back causing Sasuke to flinch in pain... "G-Gomenasai, S-Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke merely looked at her and grinned. Hinata smiled back and asked softly, "Can I see?" She wanted to try to help him out... Sasuke grinned naughtily at her making her blush. "Sasuke-kun!... That's not what I was trying to say..." She lifted her fingers up to her lips and let her face drop.

Sasuke laughed teasingly and nodded his head then turned back around. Hinata, after taking several deep breaths and finally letting her face fade to white again, she began lifting Sasuke's shirt up, and then removing the bandages...

Hinata got chills when she saw how bad it looked...

"I-I brought an ointment... I made it myself... is i-it okay if I use it... I promise it'll help..."

"Just do it..." Sasuke said with his eyes shut...

Hinata nodded and looked back at the wounds... She dipped her fingers into the container lightly and began rubbing it gently on Sasuke's back...

Sasuke looked back at Hinata and stared... He jumped lightly when she suddenly pressed too hard... "Oh... Gomenasai, Sasuke-kun"

He didn't reply and merely turned back keeping his eyes on her fingertips which were now treating his shoulders.

_Hinata... if you had only been there earlier... I just might have been a different person now..._

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Ehh...?" Tsunade looked blankly at Kakashi.

She couldn't believe what the silver haired shinobi was telling her... "Sasuke... has a crush on Hinata?"

Kakashi nodded again... "Yes... so I guess that takes out problem number three... If I'm not wrong, it was because of Hinata that Sasuke was unable to kill his brother..."

Tsunade looked up at him... "And what makes you think that? It is possible for Itachi to have completely defeated him in battle... I mean, this is Uchiha Itachi we speak of..."

Kakashi lowered his head and shook it slowly... "Hinata told me Sasuke was about to kill Itachi... but he missed purposely... You see..." He lifted his head, "she had her Byakugan activated as we approached Sasuke... She saw a lot of the battle... She just refuses to tell him so that she won't hurt his pride... "

Tsunade was stunned... "So, ka..."

She closed her eyes for a moment contemplating... "So... Sasuke could have killed him had he wanted to? Why would he throw away his life-long obsession for Hinata?" She looked at a smiling Kakashi... It was hard to tell because of the mask but you knew he was smiling widely...

Tsunade's eyes widened and then she let out a giggle... "No wayyy... Sasuke? Tch..." Tsunade brought up a hand to her forehead and tried to hold back laughter...

_Wow... Uchiha Sasuke... interested in a girl... _

"Hah, I guess his punishment won't be as bad as I had hoped to make it..."

Kakashi nodded still smiling...

Tsunade looked at Kakashi and her smile faded... "What if this is only temporary... we need to make sure his interest in her doesn't die off... how do we do that?"

"Uh... E-to... I dunno... hehehe..."

Tsunade looked at Kakashi with confusion and then frowned when she sensed a certain blonde ninja's presense in the vents...

Tsunade looked at Kakashi and threw him a frown. Kakashi put his head down in shame...

"Hatake Kakashi... " Tsunade gave out a sigh and slowly reached into her pocket throwing a shuriken up at the ceiling...

Out fell not only Uzumaki Naruto, but also Haruno Sakura. Tsunade's jaw flew open at her surprise.

"Sakuraaaaaaaa!" Tsunade growled fiercely. Sakura brought herself to her knees and bowed frantically.

Tsunade approached her and bent down to face her. "What a shame... I thought I had taught you better than that..."

"Gomenasai, Tsunade-sama" Sakura said out of breath still bowing like a maniac.

Tsunade looked at Naruto. "You, I'm not so surprised about..."

Naruto grinned comically... "Aahahaha, baba, "- Tsunade's eyebrows tightened- "I knew you weren't really gonna do anything that bad to Sasuke, hahahaha... so..." his smile faded, "thanks a lot." Then he smiled goofily again. "But I still plan on kicking his ass personally..." He said pointing towards himself, the other arm behind his head...

"You will not touch Sasuke-kun, you bakemono!" Sakura barked loudly...

She calmed down and looked over to Tsunade... "Tsunade-sama, if you don't mind my asking... what are you going to declare as his punishment...?"

Tsunade turned back to look at her... "That's only my concern... You stay out of it and keep a closer eye on Naruto" She pointed towards Naruto, who had been standing there with his mouth open waiting to hear what Sasuke-teme's punishment would be...

She frowned again and then told them all to leave. Soon after some more yelling between Naruto and Tsunade, Tsunade slammed the door shut and went to her desk...

She looked at the sake next to her and looked away... down to the papers... _This is really going to require some thinking..._

**(A/N: Lol... Zetsu-chan, I'm sorry I'm so slow... I apologize to everyone else as well... I feel horrible not being able to post for so long... but my excuse is valid... I went to go help an old lady cross the street and... lol jk nah but I went to go spend the festive days with my family and therefore... since there is no computer over there... I couldn't post... I just kept thinking about how I will continue this... I need an opinion as well... Do you think this story is ready for a closing, or should I make it longer... I mean, there will still be a couple of chapters to go... but I don't know if I should add any other subplots to it... Well anyway, sorry about this pathetic excuse for a chapter... I know... I should've come up with something better while I was away... not to mention longer so... Again sorry, and thanks a lot for all the reviews I have received until now... You guys are great... I'm really not worthy... (TT)... but thanks you guys, on the next chapter you will find out Sasuke's punishment... so muahahaha see you there!!!)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Sasuke stared at the hospital ceiling. Today was the most awkward, most boring, most hated day in a while...

Sasuke sighed loudly and looked with a frown out the window, hoping a certain someone would come by. No such luck... He sighed again and looked back up and after a moment began counting the tiles.

_My back doesn't hurt anymore, why the hell do I have to be here? And what the hell is Hinata doing right now? Why isn't she here???? _

Sasuke closed his eyes and tried not to think about all the things she could be doing. It would only anger him to know that she had another priority other than him.

_Ugh... I guess I'll just fall asleep... again... _He thought keeping his eyes closed.

Just as he was about to fall asleep for the millionth time that day, the door opened with a loud bang and in came a stomping Tsunade. She stopped in front of his bed and stared at Sasuke with a grin. Sasuke was now sitting up and looking back at her with a frown.

"What?"

"Hehehe... Uchiha Sasuke..." her frown turned to a scowl, "get dressed, everyone's waiting for you..."

"Nani?"

"You heard me you damn gaki! Get up, get dressed and follow me..." she said loudly.

She was oddly enthusiastic today. Sasuke looked at her for about thirty seconds and then said with an annoyed tone, "well... get out... I'm not changing in front of you..."

Tsunade glared at him and raised her finger... "If you even think of leaving... you'll pay..."

"I'm not going to leave... now go away!" Sasuke's face was beginning to redden. He knew what this was about... it was definitely dealing with his punishment... He was especially anxious to find out what the hell it would be already.

Tsunade threw him one last glare and disappeared. He looked around. _Okay... now what the hell am I gonna change into? _He looked at the bureau set up beside the bed and saw a change of his old clothes... _Those things aren't gonna fit me... _He frowned, but to his surprise, when he approached it, it was his current size. He didn't put much thought into it however, since he seriously wanted to get **moving**...

About five minutes later, Sasuke stepped outside the room they were keeping him in to meet a still frowning Tsunade. When she turned to see Sasuke, she grinned and said "follow me."

Sasuke frowned. _Why has she been grinning so much? Fucking bitch... I wonder what the hell she's planning._

Sasuke followed Tsunade up a flight of stairs. Tsunade stopped at the top and turned to face him. "Everyone is here to welcome you back, Uchiha, and of course, to hear what you'll get for leaving Konoha without permission."

Sasuke's frown deepened. He nodded without showing any emotion. "Ahhh. Not scared, huh? You always were a brave one, Uchiha." With that she turned around and walked down the empty, dull hallway until she reached a big door. She stopped for a second and then opened it. She turned quickly and motioned for Sasuke to follow. Sasuke looked down and then back up and began walking calmly behind her with his hands shoved down his pockets. His mouth dropped slightly at the size of the room, not to mention the amount of people inside. He looked among the crowd and spotted Hinata, who was looking at him with a smile. _How can she be so calm about this? _

_Doesn't she know that my punishment is going to affect her as well...? _He was appalled, but he sucked it in and kept following Tsunade, not taking his eyes off Hinata until about twenty seconds later when Tsunade reached a part of the room that everyone was facing.

Sasuke's eyes slowly darted back to Hinata, who seemed to be having a conversation with her cousin, Neji.

"Hinata-sama... can you please stop looking at the Uchiha, it's unbecoming of an heiress."

Hinata blushed deeply and said in a high-pitched voice "G-gomenasai, Neji-niisan."

Neji looked up at the Uchiha and frowned. _Why the hell are they staring at each other? I knew I should've gone with her on her last mission..._

Sasuke looked around and saw all the people he remembered in the front row. Shino, Kiba, that Sai guy, and everyone else. He looked down and then back up at Hinata who still seemed quite comfortable considering the type of punishment that probably awaited him. He looked at her a little longer and then noticed Neji and his glare. Sasuke glared right back and then looked at Hinata again.

"Everyone, today, we are here to announce the Uchiha's punishment, I hope you think it a wise decision, but either way," she grinned, "I'm the Hokage here."

There was a few smirks and some grunts in the crowd, but other than that no one seemed to disagree too strongly. "These choices were made after much deliberation, and they will hopefully accomplish two things," she turned to Sasuke who looked back at her with a calm expression, "One, that this will NEVER happen again! And two... that you become loyal to Konoha at heart... that will be done when you dedicate all your time to someone here in Konoha."

Sasuke's eyebrows went in separate directions. "Huh?"

"That's right Uchiha... you will be forced to..." she turned to him and grinned "marry within three years, when you turn eighteen years old..."

Sasuke's jaw dropped and Hinata blushed among the crowd.

"What?" Sasuke couldn't believe what Tsunade had just said. _Marry? I guess there's logic behind it... but... marry... I never even thought about that... _

"Well that's one, Uchiha... the other is the real trouble for you..."

Sasuke looked up at her... with an actually scared expression... _What now?_

"You will follow Naruto-kun's direct orders for two months..."

Sasuke was appalled... "EHHH????"

_Hell no... that idiot's gonna make me do all sorts of stupid shit... _

As soon as that was said, Naruto walked in with a huge smile and approached Sasuke. "Just wait till you see all the stuff I'm gonna make you do... teeheehee..."

Sasuke merely looked at Naruto with a scowl...

"Well, that's that... you can all leave..." Tsunade said and disappeared in the direction of her office...

Sasuke looked at her figure with hatred until he couldn't see it anymore and just as Naruto was going to start talking, Sasuke walked away from him...

"Oi! Baka! You're supposed to obey me!!!"

Sasuke looked back and glared at Naruto before jumping out the window. When he landed, he looked around... _I need to find Hinata... _

He was extremely nervous... but, if he was going to marry someone, the choice was obvious. He walked around a bit and spotted her, but he didn't go after her. He couldn't... He really didn't know if Hinata was willing to marry him... and then her evil cousin and the father's approval... It was just something he didn't think he had to accomplish until much later in his lifetime. Or never... I mean, he did have a goal and that was to revive the Uchiha clan, but he didn't think he would ever marry anyone... He blushed... _Was I planning on being some sort of manwhore? _

He looked up and saw Hinata and her family disappear into the streets. He knew he had to ask her... but it could wait... He turned around and began heading for his old apartment. Mann, it was gonna be dusty. He sighed and closed his eyes while taking slow, too slow, steps.

---------------------------------

Hinata's family had reached the Hyuga compound and they all stepped aside to let Hinata in first... She blushed and rushed inside. Being a heiress was something she was going to have to get used to.

Hiashi followed as Neji stood beside him with a bowed head, and then Hanabi went in and Neji followed.

"Hinata, I need to speak to you..." Hiashi said with his eyes shut and his expression serious. Hinata looked at him and smiled sheepishly. _Oh boy... _

She walked towards him and followed him into his study. When he got to the end of the room, he stopped and motioned for her to sit. Which she did, hard. _Itai... _Hinata bit her lip so she wouldn't make noise. Her father looked back at her and stared for a few moments then he shut his eyes and asked " Hinata, like I said before, it is your life, not mine... but I need you to tell me, do you think you'll be happy with him."

Hinata squeaked and looked down... blushing, man she was blushing. "Otosama... I never even knew I could choose... this is just too fast for me... I mean, if I married... wouldn't that mean that Hanabi would become heiress?"

"No..." Hiashi seemed stern. _Was I really that hard on her? She seems to think of me as a boss rather than a father..._

Hinata looked up, "Hontoo ni?"

"Yes, Hinata, I'm serious."

He went over and sat beside her. "Hanabi wouldn't be the new heiress... however, you wouldn't either... or should I say not only you would inherit the clan."

Hinata looked up, "What do you mean?"

"You and Sasuke together would lead the clan, as a wedded couple... I hate to say this, but the Uchiha clan did have a good name until that certain one came along. So, yes, the Uchiha would have more power than you regarding decisions that deal with the clan."

Hinata nodded. _This is crazy... I'm already practically engaged... and at fifteen... _Hinata put her hand to her head. "Was this all father?" Her head was beginning to hurt... bad.

"Hai..."

"Ja, shitsurei shimasu." Hiashi merely nodded as he looked at his daughter walk out...

Hinata was still holding her head when she reached her room. Standing by her doorway was Neji, who was throwing her a glare.

"Neji- niisan.." Hinata said and smiled curtly. _Not now... my head hurts..._

"Hinata-sama." he said dryly and bowed curtly. Then he looked up at her and said softly, "I just want you to know that that Uchiha will not be ordering me around... now or never..." he said calmly, yet you could sense the anger in his voice.

With that he bowed again and walked off.

_Now my head hurts even more... _

_----------------------------------------------------_

As Sasuke approached his apartment building, he sighed... _Man, is this nostalgic... _He looked up at the tall building and continued towards the automatic door.

He walked straight through the entrance with his hands in his pockets looking as cool as ever. He was greeted at the door by the sight of a housekeeper, an new one... One he didn't know. She was pushing a cart full of laundry and a couple of rolls of paper towels.

Sasuke tried to seem casual, but, as he knew, when he passed by her, she stared. She didn't even try to hide it. He decided not to bother telling her off and continued towards the staircase. _Good 'ol Konoha... _He thought sarcastically... Girls back in Sound weren't like this... He stopped and put his hand to his chin, thinking deeply. _Was there even any girls in Sound? If there were, he'd never seen them... _

He thought about Hinata as he made his way up the stairs and smiled. _Heh, the only girl that __didn't__ like me here, does now...or so I hope... _He shoved his hand back into his pocket and shut his eyes. He was trying to get to his apartment as slowly as possible since he knew what kind of condition it would be in...

When he finally reached his door, he sighed loudly and put his head down ready to be depressed at how much he was going to have to clean later on. He opened the door and the first thing he saw was Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo sitting on his couch, all extremely quiet... Sasuke's expression changed to a confused one and he muttered, "what... is the meaning of this?"

"Sasuke... you see... well..." Karin put her head down in shame and continued " I lied when I said that I had to go somewhere else when I told you I would go with you... I don't have anywhere to go... _we... _don't have anywhere to go..."

The other two merely nodded. Sasuke merely grinned. "Okay... but you all have to clean up... well, actually... is there anything in the fridge?"

"Nope... hehehe, trust me... I looked" Suigetsu said almost immediately.

Karin frowned at him.

"Well... you all can go get groceries, and I'll stay and clean..."

"Really? You're really letting us stay???" Suigetsu said with stars in his eyes. Sasuke merely looked at him and then pointed out the door muttering, "groceries, cleaning supplies... from you all's pockets..."

They all nodded and left. Sasuke went after them and shut the door... looking at his room... _Mannnnnn, this is gonna take forever..._

**(A/N: Hi guys... hahaha yeah that's Sasuke's punishment... hope you're not disappointed... but yeah don't worry, he's going to get his... Naruto will make sure of it... anyway, sorry it took a while, but heh, I'm sure you all know I usually take longer. Yeah this chapter was meant to lay out Hebi's future as well as Sasuke's punishment. Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers, you all are wayyy too nice... and yeah you're right Dark Wolf... you guys do deserve it, more of the story, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't boring you guys already... yeah i'll admit, it was pretty close to finishing, but... now that you all know that they'll be married in three years, you all have to wait and see the problems that will arise out of this and within that time... jealousy, pride, whatnot... yeah three years is a long time. Anyway, again, thanks you guys for waiting on me so often, hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you on the next, bye bye!)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Sasuke looked at the mop and then at the broom. _Ugh... I hate cleaning..._ He stared for a bit longer and then grinned... _Soon Hinata will have to do all that stuff and I won't have to worry about it... _His grin faded and he scolded himself mentally. "Did I really just think about my not too distant marriage?" He put his hand to his forehead and sat down on the couch. He put his head down and sighed deeply. 

_What the hell happened to me? I was such a badass... to EVERYONE... _

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts, and he got up to see who it was. He looked out the hole and sighed in annoyance... _It's that housekeeper... Ugh..._

He frowned and opened the door roughly, "Yeah?"

"A-ano... sorry to bother you... but, I believe some of your friends were trying to steal some cleaning supplies from the janitor room... so I thought you might need help."

_Why those..._

She peeked in as he turned back. Her face looked aghast for a while and then she grinned at him... Sasuke hated it when girls grinned at him... 

"I don't need your help... leave..."

"Ehh?... but your room..." She insisted pushing past him. She stopped in the middle of the room and looked around.

Sasuke's eyes widened. _Why that little..._ He stomped towards her and stopped right in front of her. She blushed and grinned up at him. He frowned deeply and practically yelled "Get out... I said I don't need your help... you lousy maid... You aren't allowed in here unless I say, got that?"

The maid's face as well as her eyes were red. Her eyes were brimming with tears and she was cowering slightly under Sasuke's shadow... 

Just when Sasuke was about to repeat himself... there was another knock. Sasuke stopped short and looked back to find Hinata in the doorway. She was looking at him with a slightly scared look. "May I?"

Sasuke looked back at the maid and she knew what to do this time. She left in a quick pace. Hinata looked after her until she disappeared down the hallway and then she turned to find Sasuke right behind her. She looked up at his face and smiled, blushing. "A-ano... that was a bit mean, no?"

"Tch... Mind your own business.." Sasuke told her softly, but with attitude. She flinched slightly and then looked back up. He looked at her and then looked up. 

"Geez, can't you be a little more protective of me?" Sasuke scolded Hinata playfully, with one eye closed the other eyeing her for her reaction. 

"Gomen... I just... you were just so mean... that I didn't think I needed to get jealous... this time." She smiled sweetly at him. His features softened and he just looked at her smiling. 

He was blushing and he knew it. He wanted to hug her... but... He just didn't know if he was ready to show that kind of affection... It just seemed out of place at the moment... it would make him look stupid and he never wanted that, specially for the sake of a female... He debated in his head a bit longer, still looking at her shyly...

_What the hell... I've done more than hug her... _

He approached her and put his arms around her planting a kiss on her forehead. Hinata smiled and blushed. "I-- I brought you lunch..." She held out a small basket covered with a handkerchief. He looked at it and smiled. 

"Did you cook it yourself?"

She nodded quickly still blushing... 

"That's good... I think I deserve a preview..." He said acting cool, but waiting anxiously for her reply... _She probably doesn't even know what I'm trying to get at... _He sighed and smiled in defeat when she stayed quiet.

"Ehh?" She said with her hair tilted to one side. Sasuke grinned wider. She was just too adorable... and confused... _Dummy, when you marry me I'll eat nothing BUT your cooking, so yeah, a preview... _

He stopped thinking when he realized that he sounded like an idiot... and he wasn't even talking...

He lay his hand on her head and grabbed the basket. "So what is it anyway?"

"Ahh... it's shiruko, and a bit of herb tea." 

"Sweet stuff?"

She nodded slowly becoming aware of his tone. He looked at her with a blank expression. "Well... I hate sweets, but since it was made especially for me, by you, I'll try them." He picked one of the rice cakes out of th bowl and shoved it in his mouth. _Eww..._

He faked a smile on his face, and swallowed fast. Hinata looked at him, and then looked back down a bit hurt... _He couldn't possibly be more obvious... _She grabbed the basket and wrapped her arms around it, not caring if it spilled at all... 

_Awww... shit..._ "What was that for?" 

He was trying not to sound too obvious, but he failed miserably. "It's okay, you don't have to eat them if you don't want to... You did warn me..." She said not looking at him.

He felt bad, but let go of it easily when she smiled at him. "I'll just give it to Suigetsu-kun... I bet he'll like it."

Sasuke frowned. "Nani?" 

He shoved his hands in his pockets and then turned away. "Tch." His face long and stern.

Hinata giggled loudly and then turned to Sasuke. "Gomen Sasuke, you d-did owe me for the hospital i-incident." She said blushing, still hugging the basket.

He grinned evilly. "And who said I was acting back there? I mean that nurse was pretty hot.." Hinata stopped giggling and her face became serious. Then she smiled in defeat. "Okay... there's no beating you... she was very... ... pretty..."

"That was a joke... Geez you're slow."

He grinned again and looked around, then frowned. He looked back at Hinata with a playful smile. "Should I just make Team Hebi clean up here, I mean I am letting them stay in my apartment for free."

"Sasuke-kun! Iie! Look, I'll help you and then I'll cook you something not sweet." 

"Deal."

Hinata grabbed the broom and ordered him to go look for trash bags. "Yes, ma'am!" Hinata giggled softly and blushed. Then she began sweeping quietly. Sasuke turned back and looked at her. He put a hand on her shoulder, and said quietly, "Why don't you cook first, I'm starving."

She looked at him for a bit and shrugged, "Okay then... What would you like... as in... what i-ingredients do you have...?" She looked around with an uneasy smile on her face. _There's not going to be any good ingredients... He hasn't been here in years..._

"None..." Hinata's head sank and she just looked up at him... He shrugged. "Why don't we just go out to eat?"

"But... the c-cleaning..." He grinned and walked toward her. He held her from behind and whispered in her ear, "can you really resist eating out with the uchiha sasuke..."

Hinata was blushing madly but she simply turned around and nodded. His grin turned into a frown and then an even bigger grin. She turned to face him, and before she had turned completely, Sasuke was pulling her by her hand... He ran out the door without locking the door, or even closing it for that matter, and dragged Hinata along with him...

"Ch-chotto... m-matte kudasai, Sasuke-kun..." She was running out of breath. He was fast... She was having a hard time keeping up with him and they hadn't even closed the door and they were going to be seen together in Konoha... I mean, a lot of people knew already, but there were some who had no clue. How would they react? What about Sasuke's infinite fanclub... More and more worries made their way into Hinata's head as she struggled to catch her breath. 

It seemed like they had turned a thousand times when they finally reached a stop. Hinata hunched over a bit trying very hard to catch her breath. She was panting heavily and Sasuke was merely looking at her with one eyebrow raised. "How disappointing... I thought you were shinobi material." Hinata looked up at him and frowned, her face turning redder. Then she looked back down and continued breathing. "Gomen... but you're really fast."

He grinned. "Yeah, okay, stop trying to divert my attention." He turned towards the building that stood right in front of them. It was a ramen shop, like Ichiraku's, but this one was enclosed... it was a _building_. He turned to look at her and waited for the look of approval. She merely looked up and smiled softly at him. He smiled and grabbed her hand again, pulling her, but this time, he was walking slowly. 

As they made their way inside, Sasuke earned about a million stares, whereas Hinata was merely ignored. It seemed Sasuke's little fanclub hadn't subsided since he left. In fact, today he noticed there were even more girls staring at him with dreamy eyes. _Wow... and even when I'm holding someone's hand..._ He frowned and held Hinata closer. Hinata merely looked down when she saw a couple of girls throwing her glares. They reached the counter and the host immediately took them to a booth that stood a bit off from the whole crowd. Apparently he noticed how the girls around them were reacting. 

"I'll bring your menus in a bit," he said and walked off. Hinata slid into the booth and Sasuke slid into the front part of the booth positioning himself in front of her. He crossed his arms in front of him and leaned on his elbows.

"So, any idea what you're gonna wanna eat?" Sasuke asked Hinata wanting to start a conversation. 

Hinata nodded. "Noodles..."

Sasuke smiled and reached for her hand holding it there and staring at her. He wanted to tell her about the marriage thing, but he just didn't know where to start... 

"Ano... Hinata..."

"Hn?" Hinata looked up from her hand and looked at him with a rosy blush. He smiled and looked down...

When his face came back up he was grinning. Hinata looked at him curiously, but still smiling. "What is it?"

"I wanted to... Do you still remember the two questions you owed me... ... yeah I know I still owe you three... but still, I wanna use mine now...you can use yours after I finish" He said looking down.

"O-Okay..." Hinata felt a bit nervous... Now she understood why Sasuke's mood would dry up when she'd bring up the questions... _What is he going to ask...?_

"Okay, well, as you know... my punishment, was w--" Sasuke frowned when Naruto showed up. 

"To obey me for two months, baka!" Naruto sat himself next to Hinata and lowered his fist down hard on the table. Then he sat back looking as casual as ever. "Or did you forget your penalty, teme?" Naruto grinned widely. Sasuke stared at him with a glare and then turned to Hinata, who was looking down face red and playing with her fingers... Sasuke frowned... _Why is she still acting shy around him...?_

He looked back at Naruto who was looking back and forth between Hinata and Sasuke. Then he looked at Sasuke and grinned. Naruto scooted closer to Hinata. "Hi-na-ta-chaaaannn" Naruto said in a cute, playful voice. Hinata looked up and gasped when she saw that Naruto was beginning to slide his arm around her shoulders. Hinata only reddened more and began sinking into the seat. She sunk until she completely came off and ended up on the floor. 

"Oi, Hinata-chan, doushita n-- wuhh" Naruto was grabbed by the shirt by Sasuke who pulled him towards him until their faces were no more than 9 inches away. "What the hell are you doing baka!" Naruto said trying to free his shirt from Sasuke's grip.

"Naruto... you picked the worst time to come... leave, or we will." He said seriously... He looked over to Hinata, and realized she wasn't really blushing because it was Naruto, but because she was shaken... He looked back at Naruto who wore an uneasy smile on his face. 

Sasuke let go of Naruto and Naruto rubbed his neck with his hand. "Man, you're a real animal..." 

"Leave you fucking idiot..." Sasuke told Naruto with his arms crossed. It was the only way he could put his arms without having quick access to Naruto's neck. 

"Sasuke... I will keep up this whole pestering thing if you don't meet the consequences... oh and by the way... the two months will start to pass when you start to obey... " Naruto said standing up and looking down at Sasuke with a serious expression. He looked at Hinata one last time and smiled goofily making a peace sign with his hands before running out.

Sasuke looked at Hinata, who looked deeply disturbed. She had begun biting her nails and seemed to be shaking a bit. Sasuke put his arm around her and lay his head on hers. 

"Calm down, already... geez, you're so... sensitive... you should get used to me and baka fighting like that..." They sat like that for a while and when he felt that she was no longer shaking he looked down at her. She had her head down to the side resting on his shoulder. Her hand was squeezing his tightly. 

"May I take your order, sir?" a waiter appeared next to their table. 

Sasuke nodded and ordered a plate of sashimi, a miso ramen bowl, and two cups of tea. Sasuke and Hinata waited for their meal without saying anything, and it was the same as they ate. Hinata never even looked up at him... The whole Naruto situation seemed to have somewhat dampened her mood.

Damn that Naruto...

_I'll just make it up to her some other time... after I've obeyed Naruto for those two months... _Sasuke's face dropped at the thought of Naruto bossing him around... and him having to obey every single thing the idiot would command... It just seemed so horrible...

Sasuke looked at Hinata and then looked down when she didn't look up... _I guess I'll just ask her some other time..._

**(A/N: Hello ppl! haha, i know you're all hating on me right now cuz it's been well practically forever now since i last updated... I apologize... deeply... I'll make up for it thought, somehow. Anyway, hope this chapter made sense to you all... Sasuke doesn't really think Hinata is willing to marry him... so he needs to ask... he's pretty confident... but he still wants to hear a yes... i apologize for this awful chapter, and i took so long too... (TT)... i'm pathetic, but yeah i'll try to update more often now... it should get easier... the thing was that i was moving back from my apartment to my parents and it took a while to get the internet installed again... and i didn't really work on the story while i had no internet... hehe so gomenasai... anyway, try to review so i can be more psyched about the story please! i won't blame you if you don't but, please do anyway! well thanks for all the support so far, and keep it coming. Well bye bye!)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Sasuke looked at the ceiling of his bedroom blankly. He felt somewhat comfortable... but not quite... He looked to his side and stared at the wall. _At least it's clean now..._

He and Hinata had eaten their meal quietly. Not a word was said. Not until they walked out at least. "That was good Sasuke... Thank you for the m-meal."

"Well, I wasn't gonna eat your cooking now was I?"

Hinata glared at him. Sasuke flinched and then laughed. "Wow... that's... priceless, I mean... _you... _glaring... hahaha." He looked at Hinata who was now looking down with a red face... again. "Gomen, Sasuke... I didn't mean to."

Sasuke just laughed some more. And that basically summed up their walk to her house. He'd say something mean to her in a joking manner, and she'd do something out of character and he'd just laugh at her.

When Sasuke got back to his apartment, he found all of team Hebi there, cleaning. _Wow... Orochimaru must've made them clean a lot back there..._ The progress they had made was pretty noticeable.

He merely walked past them and past the table to find Hinata's basket completely empty. _Ehhh?? Who the hell...I wasn't gonna eat it but still… _Sasuke looked around.

"Karin" Sasuke said in a rather low voice. Karin poked her head up attentively from where she was washing dishes.

"Who ate this?" He said holding up the basket for her to see. Then he turned it over to show that it was indeed empty.

"Ah, that was Suigetsu." She said quickly and got back to work.

Suigetsu poked his head out of behind the couch attentively with an appalled expression. "I did what??"

Sasuke merely glared at him and threw Hinata's basket at him. Suigetsu laughed guiltily and scratched the back of his head. He caught it and looked up at Sasuke. "By the way, give my compliments to the chef! It was awesome." He gave a huge thumbs up and burped...

Sasuke's head felt like it was boiling. _So she was right...he liked it... _He clenched his fist and turned the other way.

"Tch... anyway, I hope my room is clean... cuz I'm friggin tired."

"Yeah... first thing we did." Karin said holding her right hand with her left and rubbing it.

"Good." Sasuke said slowly and walked into his room.

He stared at the wall a while longer just thinking.

_How... will I tell her... should I tell her... I mean... she knows I need to get married... but does she realize that... well, she's the only one I'd marry... Gawwhh... why can't I be more experienced with liking girls... ? Then this wouldn't be so hard..._

A puff of smoke interrupted his thoughts and he looked towards it. Out of the smoke walked Sakura. Sasuke looked at her with one brow up and the other down. He slowly sat up and turned to look at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Sasuke-kun... Tsunade knows you've been blowing off your punishment..." she looked down and away then looked back up at him, "to go spend time with Hina-chan." Her look was hard and Sasuke merely looked at her, regretting what this little meeting might end up like. It seemed Sakura hadn't really changed much...

"Yeah, I told that idiot I would stop." _Okay, I didn't but still..._

"Sasuke-kun... Tsunade might make your punishment worse if you continue neglecting your current ones."

"I said I was gonna start with her stupid punishment, sheesh." Sasuke put one foot after the other atop his bed and leaned back with his arms resting behind his head. "I'll start listening to that idiot as soon as I see him again, okay? Will that make your mentor happy?" Sasuke said with his eyes shut, not really expecting her to leave. Since that has been her one weakness since day one… _Leaving me alone…_

"What about the other part...?" Sakura said standing up and looking down at the floor, her eyes watery.

Sasuke opened one eye to look at her. "The marriage deal is none of your business..." he closed his eyes again and just lay there waiting for her to leave. Apparently they had sent her to deliver the message, so that was his response. But Sakura didn't move. Sakura raised her heel and stomped it hard on the floor, cracking the tile.

_Oh god… _Sasuke chose to ignore the damage that his floor had probably just undergone, as well as what she was going to say next.

"You chose her didn't you? It doesn't need to take effect until three years from now and you already chose her didn't you?" Sakura said, her voice sounding angrier and louder with every word.

"I said it doesn't concern you." Sasuke said shutting his eyes again.

Sakura grew quiet and then the tears began falling. Sasuke felt her lean on top of him and hug him tightly. Sasuke frowned. "What the hell are you doing?" he said rather loudly. She was practically on top of him, except for her legs which were hanging off the edge of the bed.

"I tried so hard to make you love me and it never worked!" She was practically laying on him with her face shoved into his chest. Tears were wetting Sasuke's shirt. "I always loved you and you never even gave me a chance!!"

Sasuke grabbed her shoulders and tried to get her off, but she seemed to have gotten freakishly strong. He looked down at her and her arms were glowing with chakra.

Sakura looked up at him and continued crying. "And then she shows up out of nowhere, where she had never even looked at you before and you immediately fall! What did she do?! She was only supposed to bring you back, that's it… and you fell for her! Why?!"

Sasuke noticed that her hold on him was getting tighter and tighter. "Sakura, let go! Get the hell off me!" He couldn't move at all. She was holding him along with his arms, and her grip was extremely tight.

When he noticed that Sakura's crying was getting louder as well as the squeezing getting tighter, he decided to just let her cry her heart out rather than get squeezed to death. Sasuke waited for a while with a look of clear anger and annoyance towards the love struck girl until her wails seemed to start decreasing. In volume at least. She was still muttering things incoherently, and she continued until about twenty minutes later.

At last Sasuke released his arms and grabbed her by the shoulders finally pulling her off. He was afraid she would just start again and was surprised when she didn't make noise when he pushed her off of him. He merely slipped out of her grip, but made sure she didn't just fall to the floor. He looked at her and noticed that she had fallen asleep... He rolled his eyes and muttered some very rude words.

Sasuke looked at her for a bit longer and then decided to shake her shoulder gently. "Sakura, get up." He was sitting up on the bed with his legs down and he was shaking her a bit roughly. He stopped when he heard her sniffling getting louder as she stirred. So he just decided to leave her alone.

Sasuke looked up at the ceiling and sighed. _Why me?_

He got up and walked towards his door. He was wayyy too tired for this... and Sakura was not being at all helpful right now. He walked down the small hallway and into the living room where all of hebi had each claimed a couch for themselves. "Suigetsu..."

Suigetsu stirred a bit and looked up at Sasuke with groggy eyes. "Na-nani..." He said half yawning.

Sasuke approached him and said in a low tone. "There's some girl in my room and I need you to get her out of there now..."

Suigetsu completely woke up... "EHH?" He sat up immediately.

"Why's there a girl in your room... gasp are you two timing Hina-chan??" He slapped a hand to his gaping mouth.

"No, baka... she's an old friend, and because of 'Hina-chan' I can't have her sleep in my room..."

"But why is she in your room in the first place?" Sasuke's face turned into a deep frown..

"Just fucking go get her already and set her up here... " Sasuke said beginning to walk away and beckoning Suigetsu to follow.

They both walked as noiselessly as possible into Sasuke's room. "What's up with her hair... is that natural??" Suigetsu gave a frown as he looked at Sakura up and down. Then he glared at Sasuke.

"Why… would… nevermind, so is that her real hair color…" he said shrugging it off.

Sasuke looked at him with a frown again... "I don't know and I don't care either! Just get her the hell out of here..." He said looking at Sakura who had drifted into a deep sleep.

Suigetsu, not wanting to recieve another frown walked towards the bed and placed Sakura on his arms. Then he began walking out of the room staring at Sasuke with a you-got-a-lot-to-explain look on his face. Sasuke rolled his eyes and shut the door as soon as he was able to.

Sasuke approached his bed and collapsed on it. He was in a terrible mood now thanks to Sakura. He put his eyes behind his head and shut his eyes. _I'll deal with this tomorrow… _

About forty minutes later, Suigetsu stormed into the room, shutting the door quickly. "Sasuke!! That girl woke up and she's fighting with Karin!! They just won't stop arguing!! I'm scared!!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and got up in a rush, walking quickly to the living room where Sakura and Karin were, surely enough, screaming their lungs out at each other.

"I DON'T KNOW WHY THE HELL YOU'RE EVEN HERE!! GET THE HELL OUT ALREADY!! NO ONE HERE ACTUALLY WANTS YOU HERE!!" Karin screamed at Sakura struggling to get out of Juugo's grip.

"I'LL GET OUT WHENEVER I WANT TO!! YOU JUST WANT TO HAVE SASUKE TO YOURSELF!!"

"AGHHHH! UNLIKE YOU I ALREADY ACCEPTED THAT SASUKE WILL NEVER WANT ANYTHING WITH ME!! IT'S YOUR FUCKING TURN NOW, YOU STUPID IDIOT!!"

And it continued…

Sasuke stood there staring at the two. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open. He was actually a bit scared too. Suigetsu stood next to him biting his nails fiercely.

"Sasukeeee…. I can't hit either of them… and you can't either…. What do we do??"

Sasuke looked at Suigetsu blankly and then regained his composure. Then he looked back at the screaming girls and approached Sakura. His face was now stern and he grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her towards his room.

Suigetsu stared as Sasuke disappeared into the hallway.

Sasuke walked into his room and Sakura followed. He didn't even need to pull her anymore.

"Sit," Sasuke said firmly, genuinely pissed off at her… He had never liked Sakura very much and now she had just demoted herself to the lowest level. I mean he was grateful that she had actually cared so much about him, but he wasn't so grateful that he would let this slip.

Sakura sat down on Sasuke's bed and looked down. A tear escaped her left eye and ran down her cheek. She was sniffling.

"I'm only going to ask this once and you better answer me…" He looked at Sakura for a response. She merely looked up at him all teary-eyed and nodded, dropping her head down again.

"What the hell were you all arguing about?" Sasuke said practically yelling at her.

Sakura looked down and then began talking.

"Well… what happened was that I woke up and saw those people asleep on the couches… and then one of them woke up and told me to go back to sleep. The one with the silver hair. Then out of nowhere the red head wakes up to tell him to go to sleep and she sees me, freaks out and asks the guy what the hell I was doing there. Then the guy just told her not to worry about it and she said she wanted me out because I was the one that had beat the hell out of Hinata… " with that, Sakura looked up and back down. "It was unfair, because we all saw that Hinata was the one that won."

"You still started the fight…" Sasuke said turning his head away from her.

Sakura just looked down at this comment. "Well yeah, but…"

"Sakura… I need you to leave already… you've ruined my whole night… I gotta sleep now… and so do you…"

Sakura nodded her head gloomily and stood up. Sasuke looked up to see her walk away. He heard a couple of screams on her way out and finally heard the door slam one last time for the night. Sasuke sighed loudly and again, collapsed on his bed. He lay stomach-down and one arm was hanging limply from the bed. He shut his eyes and hoped Sakura wouldn't cause any more problems, for him or for Hinata.

_Nah… this won't cause any problems…_ Concluding his self reassurance, he drifted into dreamland.

**(A/N: There friggin Zetsu-chan!! Lmao I should take longer so you can leave more reviews. (). Well anyway, hope you all liked this chapter… well actually I hope you didn't cuz that horrible person was practically in the entire thing… hahaha, but yeah thanks for all the reviews so far. Leave some for this one cuz well I kinda did this one in a rush because of SOMEONE!! Lol and I need to know if it needs any changes. Only if it's too bad tho. Lol well yeah see you next chapter.)**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Sasuke's eyes fluttered open the next morning and he patiently waited for them to come into focus. Then he waited a bit longer, just laying there… Just because he didn't feel like getting up yet.

He recalled last night and the whole situation with Sakura. He recalled how he said he was going to follow his orders from the next time he encountered him until Tsunade felt like it was enough. He rolled his eyes and slouched over. _I guess I'll just avoid him as best as I can… _He had no intention of actually following Naruto's orders, but like Sakura said his punishment could get worse…

He definitely didn't want that… So, if he didn't see Naruto, Tsunade couldn't really blame him, right?

He looked over to his closet and dragged himself over, looking for a change of clothes… He sighed at the sight… _Nothing here fits me anymore… _He looked down at himself and sighed again.

_I guess I'm stuck with this same outfit until further notice… _He walked out of his room scratching his head and yawning. When he approached the living room he grunted. There sat Naruto and Hinata right next to him on the same couch. He frowned.

"Great, it's you…" Sasuke said not trying in the least to hide his discontent. He looked over at Hinata with a blank expression. She had her head down and had her hands atop a small lunch box. He grinned.

"Is that for me?" Sasuke said and completely ignored the comments Naruto was making. He sat next to Hinata and looked at her face. Her eyes seemed red and swollen. Sasuke's grin disappeared and he looked up at Naruto finally paying attention to what he was saying.

"-nade said that if you keep blowing me off you'll have your share of up to five more months of following my orders, Sasuke no baka." Naruto said with his arms crossed and a deep frown on his face.

"I know you fucking idiot… Am I at least allowed to eat breakfast?"

"Tch." Naruto said and put his arms behind his head leaning back into the couch.

Sasuke looked from Naruto back to Hinata. "What's wrong?" Hinata merely looked up at him and smiled sweetly.

"Nanimo…" She looked down at her lap and held up the lunch box up to him. " I h-hope you haven't eaten breakfast yet…"

Sasuke shook his head no and continued staring at her. He looked over at Naruto and glared… _Did he tell her something?_

He looked back at Hinata who was still waiting for him to take the box off her hands. Her head was down again, her eyes fixed on her lap…

She looked up at Sasuke and smiled. "I hope you like it…" Sasuke looked up at her. "What is it?"

"Not s-sweets…" She said with a shy smile. Her cheeks red. Then she stood up abruptly and clasped her hands together. "Well, I should be going… I told father I'd just drop your breakfast off."

_Her father's okay with that? This might be easier than I thought…_ He smiled at this. Then he approached her and led her to the door, the lunch still in his hand. He looked down at her and gave her a hug. She returned it and walked down the hallway. Then she sighed deeply and shakily hugging herself… Her face was down the entire time as she walked out of the apartment complex. Her eyes teary.

She finally raised her head and looked around outside the building. Then she looked to the left and walked in that direction, slowly… Then she noticed the bright pink hair in the distance… Hinata flinched. She didn't want to see Sakura… Not at all…

Apparently Sakura had told Naruto everything that had happened last night between her and Sasuke… And Naruto made sure that Hinata knew as well how Hinata had just taken Sasuke in no time, when Sakura had tried so hard to get him to like her… It had made Hinata feel… somewhat like an intruder… She mostly felt bad for Naruto… Instead of being grateful to her because Sasuke was finally taken by her and not Sakura, he worried more about Sakura and her happiness…

Hinata kept her head down when Sakura got closer. Just as she was passing by, Hinata looked up at Sakura and saw the coldest eyes she had ever received… Sakura looked at her and then looked away without saying a thing…

Hinata put her head down again and rubbed her eyes. They were tearing up again…

Naruto stared at Sasuke… His eyes drooped down and his face red with anger. Sasuke merely looked back at him coolly. "What?"

"YOU'RE DOING IT ON PURPOSE TEMEE!!" Naruto screamed, fists waving in the air.

Sasuke looked at him with a bored expression, glancing up at him from his breakfast. "Doing what?" He was cracking up on the inside.

"TAKING FUCKING FOREVER, YOU DAMN JERK!!"

"Naruto, stop with the screaming… I'm eating… and I like eating in peace… baka…" Sasuke said with a calm voice.

Naruto merely sank further into the couch, once again crossing his arms and breathing out really loud.

Sasuke grinned interiorly at this and continued eating his breakfast… slowly.

"Anyway… Sakura-chan told me about last night… " Naruto looked up at Sasuke with a serious expression.

Sasuke looked at him and rolled his eyes… As good as Hinata's cooking was, Naruto had made him forget his pleasant mood. "What exactly did she tell you?"

"Exactly what happened…"

"Knowing Sakura… that might not be the case…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto looked up at Sasuke with a frown forged on his face.

"You know exactly what it means…" Sasuke said finally finishing up his breakfast and standing up. He walked over to the kitchen and left the box on the counter.

Naruto saw him sit back down in the couch in front of Naruto. "You're way too hard on her… you know she really cares about you…"

"And I have showed her for three years… no more like my whole life… that I don't and I never will feel the same way…Ino got the message, all the other members of my fanclub got the message too… why can't she…?" Sasuke said it in an annoyed tone, but he enjoyed every minute of it… He knew the girls back at the academy had actually formed a club… for girls who had a crush on him… and everyone had been a member at one point… Except Hinata…

"It's not easy to know that the person you want to share your life with… isn't willing to give you their time… how would you feel if Hinata all of a sudden decided she just didn't want to marry you?"

"I-…" Sasuke looked at Naruto with a frown… _I guess he has a point… but I need a comeback… I can't let Naruto seem more mature than me… _

"Yeah, I guess you have a point… but… it's not easy having to put up with her in the middle of the night either… and for this long… I mean… people need to move on…"

"I guess so temee."

"By the way… how long were you and Hinata here waiting?" Sasuke looked at Naruto and suddenly remembered how gloomy Hinata seemed… almost as if she wanted to cry…

Sasuke looked up at Naruto. "Well?" His face turned into a scowl as he waited for Naruto's reply. He eyed Naruto suspiciously. "Answer me baka!"

" Well, I guess it was a – quite a while…"

Sasuke was becoming angry with Naruto's response. _He told her something…_ "Naruto… did you say anything to Hinata while she was here?"

"Well no… not while she was here-"

"What's that mean, you idiot… did you tell her something or not?" Sasuke asked standing up, looming over Naruto, who was still sitting down practically sunk into the couch.

"I walked with her over here… I told her about Sakura…"

"About Sakura? About what happened… did you fucking add anything? Anything at all?"

"N-no…" Naruto said getting nervous and putting his hands up in front of his face for safety. Sasuke grabbed him by the jacket collar and pulled him closer. Then he merely put him down. "Tell me what you told her…"

"Wakatta, wakatta… geez."

Sasuke sat down once again on the couch facing Naruto and listened to Naruto's explanation.

flashback

Hinata stepped outside the Hyuuga compound, holding Sasuke's breakfast. She was determined not to disappoint him this time. She blushed at the thought of her trying so hard to please Sasuke. And with cooking nonetheless. Such a "wifely" kind of thing… Hinata looked up and shook the thought, beginning the walk to Sasuke's apartment.

As if he had been waiting for her, Naruto appeared not too far down the road. He was leaning on a fence with a stern face. He looked up when he heard her approaching and waved. Hinata was a bit surprised at this sudden act of friendliness, but she smiled anyway.

"Ohayoo Hinata."

"A- Ohayoo Gozaimasu… Naruto-kun."

Naruto was walking besides her, apparently on his way to Sasuke's apartment as well.

"So, Hinata-chan… did you make that for Sasuke?"

Hinata nodded and blushed. "I hope he likes it." She held the box close to her on a tight grip.

"Yeah… anyway, Hinata, I wanted to ask you something…"

Hinata merely looked at him with a questioning look. "What is it?"

"Do you really like Sasuke?" He asked her staring intensely at her.

"Wh-why do you a-ask?" Hinata's grip on the lunch box tightened. She looked at Naruto with wide eyes.

"Well… you do know Sakura likes him too right?"

"I am a-aware… that S-sakura-chan has liked Sasuke for quite a while now…"

Naruto looked at her and blinked twice… Then he made a concerned face… "So you knew and you still…"

Hinata looked at Naruto. He was beginning to make her feel uneasy. The questions he was asking… It seemed like he was trying to make her feel guilty for liking Sasuke…

"Did I-I d-do something wrong ?"

"Well… Sakura has been trying so long to get him to like her… and well you just come in and all her chances are gone…"

Hinata remained silent at this comment… Then she looked up at Naruto and stared for a while as they continued walking. She looked back down and began biting her lip. Her eyes were beginning to well up. "D-did I do something w-wrong?"

"I jus-"

"Naruto-kun… don't you like Sakura-chan yourself?"

Naruto blushed and smiled at this question. Then he got serious again… "Yes… I like her so much that I just wish for her happiness…" he looked at Hinata, " and now she can't have it because of-." Naruto stopped himself… but not in time to stop her from getting the drift.

Hinata shut her eyes and a single tear slipped down her cheek and dripped down from her chin and onto her jacket.

Naruto looked at her and felt somewhat bad for what he had said. When he was about to try to take what he said back, he saw her turn to her right and approach the apartment complex's gate. He followed her and soon they were both inside Sasuke's apartment. Team Hebi had apparently left early to do who-knew-what. Naruto sat there thinking of what to say and Hinata merely sat there teary eyed no longer wanting to listen. Being with Sasuke felt… well if felt great… she didn't need Naruto to shove in second thoughts into her head…

Both heads went up when Sasuke walked into the room.

End of flashback

"So you see… That's what happened…"

Sasuke just sat there… dumbfounded. _Shouldn't this retard be grateful knowing that Sakura no longer stands a chance... now less than ever…_

"Naruto… you're a fucking idiot… I swear if you make Hinata have seconds thoughts about this… I'll hang you."

"Yeah right. ANYWAY, time for you to begin your punishment with me, so let's get going… today we are going to babysit some kids and you will hand over your paycheck to me." He grinned widely.

"Jaa, ikuze!" Sasuke rolled his eyes, but followed, nonetheless.

"I need the money to buy clothes that fit me you asshole…" Sasuke said menacingly.

"I'll lend you some of mine… not to worry!" He said to Sasuke giving him the thumbs up signal.

Sasuke's eyes widened at the thought of him having to wear anything orange. He'd have to come up with something quick… If Naruto were smarter, he'd just say that he'd have to wear his clothing… he didn't have a choice. Thankfully for Sasuke… Naruto was as smart as … Kiba… probably even dumber.

"No thanks… I'd rather walk around naked."

He made a face when he saw two girls eyes light up when they heard him say that… _Sheesh… What happened to girls like Hinata… actual ladies… good ladies… _ He looked at them for a while longer… then turned away when he realized they weren't going to stop staring.

"My clothes aren't that bad, temee…"

"Whatever Naruto… but I need my money… I need clothes… I've been wearing this since I got out of the hospital… I'll go with you… no problem but let me keep the money."

"Ehh… fine…"

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a disgusted _you-knew_ suspicious glare. Naruto sat on the other couch talking away with some dumb looking fourteen year old girl…

Naruto blushing and grinning the whole time of course.

The other girl sitting on the left side of Naruto's little buddy would keep throwing flirty glances at Sasuke. Sasuke looked at her in disgust. He relaxed and sank into the couch, eyes on Naruto with a glare. _How the hell does it make sense to get fifteen year old babysitters for fourteen year old teenagers…?_

Sasuke decided to give it a rest… He was stuck there until six o clock pm and glaring at Naruto wasn't going to make time go faster. He looked up and fixed his glance on the ceiling.

He started thinking about Hinata. He was really hoping she hadn't taken Naruto's words too seriously… He was hoping she had completely ignored him. But, knowing Hinata, she had probably felt really horrible at what Naruto had said. Now that he thought about it, he remembered her eyes had been swollen when he had seen her that morning, that she had been trying to hide them.

Sasuke snapped out of it when he felt someone sit next to him. He looked to his right and saw that Naruto's friend's friend had just sat next to him and was looking at him, with batting lashes. Sasuke rolled his eyes and moved away from her. He looked over to where Naruto was sitting only to find him enjoying whatever stupid conversation they were having. _This is just too much… _

"So… your names Sasuke, then?"

Sasuke looked to his right again and saw the girl again. He frowned at the girls question and looked away. The girl merely asked again, the exact same words, louder. "What the hell do you want my name for?" Sasuke said quietly but harshly. Naruto and his friend looked over.

Sasuke looked up at Naruto and stood up. "Naruto… seriously… this is just too… much… These girls don't need babysitters… they're probably only a couple of months younger…"

"Well yeah… but they _are_ girls… ne?"

" I guess so… but why didn't they send someone older… or nobody at all… …" He stopped when he saw that Naruto had resumed his conversation with the girl next to him.

"Geez… it wouldn't hurt you to have a nice conversation would it?"

He grinned sarcastically at her. "I don't wanna take any chances…" He said and turned away… ignoring her until it was time for them to leave… …

_These couple of months are going to last an eternity this way… … _Sasuke thought to himself feeling extremely discouraged about the whole thing…

_I better get the paycheck anyway… even if it comes from Naruto's own pocket… …_

**(A/N: Hey you guys! Lol sorry it has taken forever to update… it's just that as I am almost sure I mentioned…. My computer is broken… or just not working momentarily… so gomen for the long wait. I hope this chapter wasn't too boring… I just wanted to show you guys what Naruto's punishment is going to be like, what he's gonna have to face anytime Naruto feels like it. Kinda sucks for him huh? Lol well yeah other than that I know there were no real important turn of events in this chapter, but just bear with me… well yeah, hope you didn't get too bored and please review to let me know if you did… bye bye!)**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

"Dope… if I don't get my paycheck… you'll be sorry…" Sasuke said holding the receiver with a tight, almost too tight grip. Sasuke said word for word clearly making sure the idiot didn't miss any of the words.

"I told you… I need fucking clothes… and no, I refuse to borrow yours."

"What the hell is wrong with my clothing, Sasuke teme??" Naruto said obviously offended at the remark. He held the phone tight as well and eyed his wardrobe. Standing up and slowly walking over to see. Mostly orange jackets, orange pants as well as a bunch of black t-shirts. Most of the jackets looked the same, except some had more of a different color than the rest. "There's nothing wrong with my closet, you fucking jerk!!"

"I won't say it again Naruto… I fucking mean this…" That was all Sasuke could take before he, as an impulse, hung up the phone. It had been almost four days after they watched over those… those… girls… And now… Naruto was refusing to hand over the paycheck that he rightfully earned by babysitting.

It had been a crappy 3 days since then as well. Hinata, which was the only source of content he had at the moment, hadn't stopped by once. No breakfast… no nothing. He had taken short walks around the neighborhood, just to see if he'd bump into her… No such luck. He missed her. Sasuke sighed. He'd just have to be patient… maybe she was on a mission.

_I got nothing better to do anyway… _he thought and pulled the same pair of clothing he had been using for almost a week out of the dryer. Since he had only one change of clothing, he had borrowed some of Suigetsu's clothing, never did he wear it in public though. He didn't want to seem like he was following Suigetsu or something. He quickly removed the purple shirt and put on his blue one. He left on Suigetsu's pants though and walked out a bit slouched over. _Not having clothes… is so depressing…_

He walked through the hallway slowly, his feet dragging.

"So… what was that…" Suigetsu asked and yawned. Then he looked back at Sasuke who merely stared back without interest. He shrugged and kept walking reaching for the keys on the kitchen counter.

Suigetsu took one look at Sasuke and decided he wasn't gonna answer, and he wasn't too interested in the response either. He simply yawned again and threw himself onto the couch once more, snuggling up to the pillows.

Sasuke walked down the stairs slowly, looking at the ceiling. _This sucks…_ _Guess I'll go to Naruto's place and try to make the idiot give me my paycheck… Then I can go buy some clothes. _He looked down at himself and frowned… _Dammit… I look like shit…_

Sasuke shoved his hands in his pocket and began walking over to Naruto's apartment. About twenty minutes into the walk, he heard a huge growl coming from behind him… _Hm?_

Sasuke turned around to see Kiba on Akamaru and Shino walking in the same direction. Sasuke eyed them… _So… does that mean Hinata isn't on a mission… no, it's still a possibility considering the fact that that old hag likes to send shinobi out in random groups. _He continued to look at them, debating whether or not he should ask… To strike up a conversation with either of them… Apparently, he wouldn't have to.

"What the hell is the look for, huh?" Kiba said coolly eyeing Sasuke. He gently pulled on Akamaru's ears and the dog began walking slower, at Sasuke's pace. Shino merely seemed to be looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke frowned at the rudeness but shrugged it off… He shut his eyes, walking besides them and asked "Do you all know if Hinata is on a mission?" He looked up to see Kiba grinning widely.

"Hasn't gone to visit you or what??" Kiba asked mockingly. Sasuke frowned again and looked back down…

"Just answer the question, you idiot…" Kiba burst into laughter.

Sasuke merely glared at him intensely, throwing knives with his eyes. _This son of a…_

Sasuke looked back ahead and shut his eyes in frustration. "Can you shut the fuck up and just answer me?"

"Ahh…hehehe… hehe… woo, okay sorry. Geez, I just thought you were… heehehee… forget it… no I don't think she's on a mission. I haven't seen her since yesterday."

Sasuke's eyes shot towards Kiba. "You… saw her yesterday then?"

"Mm, we both did." Kiba motioned towards Shino who merely looked forward and kept walking silently. "We were having a team meeting… and then we just went our separate ways…"

" I see… " _ So… why hasn't she visited me…? Guhh… how depressing…_

"She… hasn't gone to see you for a reason, Sasuke." Shino said almost too quietly.

Kiba turned towards Shino in surprise. "Ehh? Soo ka?"

"Mm."

Sasuke looked towards Shino with anticipation. _Well? Say it already…_

"She hardly has time on her hands anymore… she is… taking classes with a Momoko Hyuuga, a branch family woman."

Sasuke looked at Shino with a confused expression… "What? What type of classes?"

"I can't say. Hinata told me not to tell. Sorry Sasuke." Shino said with a tone that implied he wouldn't budge.

Sasuke's stare was fixed on Shino… still wearing a confused expression. Then he looked back to the front.

"Why didn't Hinata tell _me_??" Kiba asked Shino at the same time Sasuke was thinking it. Sasuke looked at Kiba with a frown… Then he looked anxiously at Shino.

"Why does she only tell you these things?? Doesn't she trust me anymore??"

Shino shrugged and looked at Sasuke… Who was still glaring at Kiba…

_This… who does he think he is…_ Sasuke's fists were tight.

Shino looked forward again and decided not to say anything else.

_The Uchiha… is angry… _ Then he stopped along with Kiba and Akamaru, and turned another way. Kiba just waved and Shino merely walked away, saying nothing. Sasuke stared at them until they were both out of sight.

_Classes? Hmmm…_

Sasuke walked a bit farther and finally came across the apartment complex Naruto lived in. Thank goodness he lived that far away. He rolled his eyes and walked into the building slowly making his way to the elevator. He waited there for about a minute and finally he heard the small ding and saw the elevator doors open. He stepped in and waited for the doors to close. He saw a girl approaching the elevator in somewhat of a rush… She was wearing a skimpy outfit, and she blushed smiling at Sasuke. He merely grinned and pushed on the 'close door' button. He saw her face turn into a frown the doors closed and then the elevator went up to the sixth floor where Naruto's room was.

_Well, that made me feel better… _He grinned.

He made his way over to the Naruto's door and knocked. No reply. Sasuke rolled his eyes and frowned at the door. _Open the fucking door…_

Sasuke heard the small beep of the elevator and looked over to its direction, to see the girl from before come out. Sasuke's eyes widened for a bit, but he quickly regained his composure. He looked away and back at the door again, knocking again, louder this time… _Gahh… come on, you fucking bastard… I know you're there._

Sasuke turned around to see the girl standing in front of him with a frown. Her arms crossed. _Oh great._

He looked at her unwillingly… "Yes? Do you need something?" He shoved his hands in his pocket… and faced the door again.

"You fucking dick… how could you just close the door on me?"

"It closes automatically…"

"Don't give me that, there is a button there to keep the door open…"

"Do you even belong on this floor?" Sasuke looked at her with an annoyed expression. _How the hell did she know what floor I went up to…?_

"That's not the point… the point is I want you to apologize, Uchiha Sasuke."

_Even knows my name… wow… _"For not holding the open door button… no… now leave…"

The girl's mouth dropped open at his comment… "I said apologize!" She squealed.

"Shut up… I won't apologize…"

Sasuke began to ignore the girl and looked back at the elevator to see Naruto coming out of it. Naruto froze. "Ehh? Sasuke teme?"

"Naruto! Get the hell over here!" Sasuke said desperately when the girls screams began getting louder, and she began whining.

Naruto rushed over and opened the door with his keys. He stepped aside and let Sasuke in first. Then he looked at the girl with a sorry smile and stepped inside after Sasuke as well. The girl merely looked at Naruto with a scowl on her face, her eyes teary.

"Geez Sasuke… why do you have to be so mean to everyone?"

"Whatever… anyway, you know why I'm here right baka?" Sasuke asked and sunk into the couch, but kept a hard stare on Naruto.

"Yeah, yeah… I know…" Naruto walked over to a small shelf he had set up next to the couch. He stretched his hand out and reached over it, pulling with him an envelope.

Sasuke grabbed it quickly. "Thanks baka."

"Sasuke…"

Sasuke turned to look at him from the door…

"Sakura-chan… is really heart broken… I… I order you to be nicer to her…" Naruto said sounding unsure at first then a bit more confident.

"Why… the hell… do you care so much… it's not gonna kill her…"

Naruto looked up at Sasuke with an angry face. "It's an order temee."

Sasuke merely looked at Naruto… "What do you want me to do baka? I can't be nice to her, without rejecting her…"

"At least have a good talk with her… remind her that you still consider her a friend… I hate seeing her like that…"

"Okay… I will have a talk with her when I see her again."

Sasuke sighed and then looked back at Naruto. "Anything else, your fucking highness?"

Naruto smiled faintly and shook his head no.

Sasuke stepped out, and smiled sympathetically… _Naruto… you really are a good guy… but you're such a fucking idiot… _

With that Sasuke walked out of Naruto's apartment complex and began walking home.

**(A/N: Hey guys… lol sorry so late, so super late. But, I've been pretty busy… trying to get back into school and now with two jobs… (--') lol well yeah, this chapter was not in the least interesting, but it will lead to another thing, a cute little sasuhina moment… haha. Well anyway, hope you guys aren't too mad at me… and if you are you can bitch at me all you want on the reviews… lol thanks for reading see you next chapter. There will be a long talk with Sakura and Sakura will cause more problems… lol that's all I'll say. Oh and sorry I keep putting in fangirl moments on the chapters… I just… I dunno I find them funny. That's all. Haha love you! Bye!)**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Sasuke woke with a start. Not a good start either. He knew today was inevitably going to suck. He had promised Naruto that if he saw Sakura, he'd have a nice "friendly" talk with her…. He shuddered… Being friendly to Sakura would be hard… especially after she had caused so much trouble… with Naruto's stupid commands more than anything else. He remembered the scene she had made in the middle of the night too…

_It is gonna be hard…_

He sighed. _Maybe I won't see her today… Maybe I'll see Hinata… Hmm… maybe I'll go bother Shino and force him to tell me what those classes are…_

He smirked… _Yeah… that's what I'll do… _

He jumped off the bed a bit more energetic than five minutes ago and ran over to the closet… He also needed to buy clothes… he was tired of wearing Suigetsu's clothes, with his regular black or blue shirts… it didn't look right. Not to him anyway. Good thing Hinata hadn't really seen him.

Again, he put on Suigetsu's pants and a black shirt… with the Uchiha symbol in the back. He sighed… _I fucking hate wearing these things… and Juugo… why the hell did he have to be so huge?!_

He walked quickly through the hallway and made it to the living room, where he spotted Hinata sitting on the couch sleeping peacefully. She was holding a bento lightly with her fingertips atop her thighs and was slouched over to the side. Sasuke froze for two seconds and then approached her. He walked over to the couch and went down to his knees to come face to face with her. He put his hand over her hand and smiled. He really had missed her. He didn't feel like waking her though, as much as he was curious to see what she had prepared, no doubt, for him.

He got back on his feet and slowly sat next to her. He petted her head and blushed at his own action with a frown. Then he looked back at her and smiled again. He couldn't help it… it had been a while. He gently leaned on her and got comfortable. _If she wakes up… I'll die of embarrassment… _He slowly got back up and went into the kitchen. He needed to keep himself busy, since he just couldn't leave anymore. Not with Hinata asleep there. The kitchen was perfectly clean though. Karin always kept it that way. _Stupid bitch… now I have nothing to do… _But he knew he was grateful. Instead he just leaned on the counter and watched Hinata sleep.

As he watched her, he suddenly heard his stomach twist and make a deep steady growl. He laid his hand over his stomach and bent slightly… _I'm starving…_ Sasuke stared hard at the bento Hinata was holding. _She's not holding it that hard… maybe I can just take it… from her while she's asleep. Maybe I'll just wake her up… Dammit… I can't… she looks so peaceful laying there… what do I do??_

Hinata's eyes fluttered open and she slowly lifted herself up into regular sitting position. She looked over to the kitchen to see Sasuke holding his stomach tightly, bent over the kitchen counter. She looked down at the bento she had brought and squealed.

Sasuke looked up in shock. "Hinata… hi… doushita?"

"S-sauke… I brought you… breakfast… but y-you see, I fell asleep and it might have gotten cold… and"

"Woah, slow down a bit" Sasuke said coolly still grasping his stomach with his left arm, signaling for her to stop with the other. He grinned at seeing her in this state. She was frantically bowing and apologizing. It was so cute.

He walked over to her and took the bento from her hands. She merely looked down in shame… _I worked so hard to prepare it…_

She looked up at Sasuke who was smiling at her, with one eye closed… He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Okay… so… what was that?"

"Ah… gomen Sasuke… it's just that… I … have been taking… umm… you see… I wanted to show you … that…" She just stopped there…. And looked up to see him with a puzzled expression.

"What?" He burst out laughing.

Hinata stared horrified at him. Her face turned completely red… and she turned away from him…. She began playing with her fingers roughly… _He… he's laughing at me…_

She looked back to face him again. "Sasuke… yameteee… kuda… sai?" Sasuke looked up at her still grinning widely…

"Sorry… but… nothing you have said this morning… has made sense… what are you trying to say? Spill it" He said and poked her chest (the middle… not her boobs! Lol).

Hinata looked up at him… blushing still. "Well.. you see."

"Oh, is this about those secret classes you're taking?" He said, grinning at how nervous she looked.

"A… are… hai." She said looking down at her hands which were furiously fiddling away. "They are… courses… that I decided to take…" She swallowed hard and looked up at him.

His grin was gone… One brow was up the other was down in confusion. He put his hands in his pockets… "Mhmm?"

He made the space between their faces smaller. "Ahh… Sasuke!" She put one hand on his chest and pushed him away… "I'll never say it at this rate… Stand back!"

Sasuke smiled, a surprised smile, but stepped back nonetheless. "Better?'

"Mm" she said nodding her head hard. "Well… Momoko san… I am taking courses with her… courses that have to do with culinary arts… and… other stuff like that…" She looked up at him, expecting him to understand… he didn't seem to. He stood there with a confused frown on his face. "Cooking classes… and other stuff like that… what?"

"Baka! They're training me on how to become a better wife… they say… three years… will fly by… and I won't be prepared… so… now they're having me spend much o-of my t-time with Momoko san… to see how she does things with her marriage. She's been married for thirty five years, you know. She leads a happy life with her husband… so father thought…"

Sasuke stood there with his mouth hung open… His eyes swelled (funny chibi way, not really tearing up) and he smiled a huge smile. _Awwwww…_

Hinata looked up, completely embarrassed… _Maybe he thinks I'm worrying too much about this…_

Sasuke threw his arms around her and lifted her up from her feet. " Awww… kawaii Hi-na-ta…"

Hinata's eyes were spinning as he swung her around. _Is this really Sasuke…?_

Sasuke finally made his way with her to the couch and he lay on top of her. Hinata's face turned a deep shade of maroon as she sunk into the cushion. Sasuke… was so close… he'd done things like this before… but it was scary every time.

Sasuke stared at her for a bit… and then inched his face closer. He loved it when she got all red. It was so cute… regardless of how often she did it. He grinned slightly and then pressed his lips to hers. Hinata's face grew hot. Her eyes were wide open… and then slowly grew shut. Sasuke continued kissing her… and then slowly began slipping his hand under her jacket…

Hinata's eyes shot open… but she didn't move… she didn't really want to… _Shame on me… _

Sasuke stopped kissing her lips and put his lips to her ears… "Just… kidding…" he said in a whisper and he came back down to her lips, biting her lower one gently then sitting up, and off her.

Hinata sat up as well and merely looked down… The embarrassment she felt… was intolerable… She was going to let him…

Sasuke looked over to her and grinned widely. "You… were gonna let meeee…" Then he laid back on the couch and laughed loudly at her. Hinata stared at Sasuke horrified. _This was the second time today…_ Her head sunk. Low.

* * *

Neji stared at Hanabi blankly. She was ranting about one thing or the other. Who knew? He couldn't get his mind off his cousin. He couldn't believe how easy Hiashi sama had agreed to the wedding. It was inexcusable. _Hinata-sama deserves better than that! _Neji's jaw clenched tightly. And there she was now. Over at the Uchiha's place. Neji loved his cousin. No, not like that. But he loved her so much, he didn't want her marrying someone that had even the slightest similarity to his own character. Sasuke… was a jackass…

Neji stood up leaving Hanabi with her mouth open. Some of her food spilling out of her face. "Doko ni iku?"

"Nowhere…. Shitsurei shimasu, Hanabi sama." With that he marched out of the dining room and headed towards the entrance of the Hyuuga home. He needed to go get her. She'd been gone a long while… _What if something happened on the way? _He knew nothing had happened… But he couldn't stand the thought of his beloved cousin being with the Uchiha too long… She might pick up on his manners. Neji had always called Hinata weak… But he knew he always loved her the way she was.

Neji made his way out of the mansion and began walking towards the Uchiha's apartment complex taking long fast strides.

* * *

Hinata was playfully pretending to strangle Sasuke for teasing her so much… He always made her feel stupid… Soon though, she grew tired and sat down on the couch. He walked over to the kitchen counter and picked up the bento.

"So… I get to eat my meal already? I bet it's freezing by now." Sasuke peeked a look at her… to look at her expression. She merely slapped him gently on his arm. He opened it up and in it sat chicken teppanyaki. It looked like out of a restaurant. He looked at her. "I can't touch that…"

Hinata's neck locked and she forced her head to turn until she was facing Sasuke… her neck making metallic noices… or at least that's what it should've looked like…

Sasuke immediately added. "That's... not what I meant!! It looks so delicious… like… a professional chef made it."

_Sca-ry…_

Hinata merely blushed and looked back down at her hands again. "Doozo…"

Sasuke smiled and began eating the chicken. "Woah, cold… but it still tastes better than anything I've tasted… since my own mom's cooking."

"Hinata-sama" Neji stood stiffly at the door as he eyed Sasuke… eating that dish Hinata had worked so hard on.

"Neji-niisan…" Hinata got up immediately and bowed to Sasuke. "Please, I-I hope you enjoy it…" She smiled sweetly at Sasuke and walked outside the door. Neji merely glared at a grinning Sasuke and turned to leave.

"Mata ne, in law…"

Neji started turning but stopped himself and followed after Hinata. _How dare he call himself my in-law…_

As they made their way out of the building, Hinata froze at the sight of Sakura coming in. Neji looked at Hinata concerned and then spotted Sakura too. He looked back at Hinata who looked extremely uncomfortable. Then he lifted his eyes and looked straight forward. Hinata's eyes slowly shifted down and as she passed by Sakura…

"He actually called for me…" Sakura spat at Hinata as she walked past her.

"Was anyone here addressing you, Haruno?" Neji said coldly. He hated it when people tried to walk all over his cousin… simply because she could never fight back.

"I wasn't tal—"

"Then I suggest you keep your mouth shut…" he paused and looked at her with cold eyes.

"Sasuke isn't the only one annoyed with your presence, you know." With that Neji turned back forward and kept walking. Hinata stood beside him with her eyes wide… She felt… shamefully, a small feeling of happiness as she witnessed Sakura's silence. She knew it had hurt her… and she felt she deserved it… and whatever Sasuke was going to tell her up there… she deserved that too...

**(A/N: lol awww Neji… how cute. Lol guys… for the meals… I don't know much about Japanese food… I was looking at a Maki's menu. Lol it's a sushi bar. Haha. Anyway, this update was somewhat fast right? Right? Okay so anyway, I threw a long Sasuhina moment in here… cuz, I wanted to, cuz it was time for it. And yeah that's that for the classes. Sorry it wasn't more exciting. (T T)… Well… anyway hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I'm glad to see there's some people out there that like it a lot. I love you all! Please leave a review and tell me if it was cute or not… sorry I couldn't go descriptive on the kiss, hope you all don't mind… I'm no good at that… but I like reading it. haha.. anyway bye guys see you next time! It's gonna be a long long argument with Sakura. Bye bye!)**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Sasuke looked up at the ceiling with a smirk. He was laughing at how Neji had reacted. It was just hilarious to him. He lay there a while longer basking in triumph. His head turned roughly towards the door when he heard knocking.

_Ehh?? Who the hell could that be…. No way Neji would actually let Hinata come back… _

As he walked towards the door he frowned deeply and rolled his eyes throwing his hands in his pockets. _Sakura… _He could feel her stupid chakra. When he reached the door he paused right before it, and screamed "What do you want Sakura??"

_What do I want? Isn't he the one who called for me? _

"Umm…. Naruto said you wanted to talk to me!" Sakura said loudly and rapidly. She once again, felt stupid. It was obvious Sasuke hadn't called her. She grabbed her arm with the other and squeezed nervously. _Naruto no baka…_

Sasuke flinched, as if he had been hit by an arrow. He took a step back and leaned his body back… his arms crossed, a face of even more disappointment… Tcchh… _Baka na… … she believed that…?_

He grunted and looked down. He had to obey… There would be no good end if he kept pushing it… He held his breath in annoyance and breathed out. "Oh… yeah."

Sakura's eyes lid up at the words. _So he did ask for me… _

She looked up at Sasuke as he opened the door, putting himself in full view of the hallway… and Sakura. He looked at her with a bored expression and then waved, beckoning her to come in.

She went in a bit nervously, walking extremely slowly. Sasuke stood behind her, still staring at her, now with an even more annoyed expression. "Could… you walk any damn slower??" Sasuke tightened his fists around the knob and threw the door, making a loud slamming noise. _Uzaiii……_

He walked towards where she was standing. The living room. She was just standing face down rubbing her arm nervously. The look on her face spelled hurt…

"Suwatte… kudasai…" If he hadn't said anything… she would never sit.

Sakura sat down and faced the floor. "So… what was it… what did you call me for?"

As he sat, Sasuke grunted… his head fell backwards. The way she said it… like if he _actually wanted _to see her… No, no good. He moved his hand to his forehead and then rested his arms on the couch…

"Sakura… I'm gonna be honest here… nobody called you… Naruto has just been bitching to me, begging me to talk to you, to be nice to you."

_Feels good… _

Sakura looked up, her eyes beginning to swell. Sasuke looked down an sighed… "Sakura… I've never once been nice to you… why the hell are you being so wimpy now?"

Sakura shrugged weakly. She rubbed her eyes.

Sasuke sat quietly for a while, letting her cry. _Guhhh… why do I have to be nice to her?? I have nothing nice to say about her… dammit, Naruto… _He crossed his arms and let her cry some more. Until it was moderately decreased, he uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, in order to make her look at him. She was sitting right in front of him, sulking.

He rolled his eyes. "Oii! Sakura!" He snapped his fingers in front of her face to get her attention.

She looked up with a whimper. Her eyes were completely red. "Nn?" She was sniffling loudly.

He rolled his eyes… "Why… do you… like me so much?" he felt somewhat uncomfortable asking her that… but at the same time… he felt proud. He was such a ladies man. Without ever trying.

He stared at Sakura for a moment. Her head remained sunken. Then she began speaking "I… I spent so much time with you… at first… I'll admit… it was only because you were cool… cute, handsome…"

Sasuke grinned on the inside… _Humor me… haha… _

"You know… all that… the same thing all the other girls saw in you…" She paused and looked down.

"But I grew to love you… because I got to know you… I started to actually know you, not just admire you from a distance. You became so special to me." The end of her words broke. She brought her hands up to her mouth, covering it.

"Really? I became so special to you? Do you…really care for me that much, Sakura?" He looked at her with intensity. She wasn't gonna like this… but he didn't care… he was wayyy too annoyed to care anymore…

Sakura looked up at him and blushed. She was hoping his next words would be more… kind than the previous ones. Kinder than anything else he had ever said to her… considering the nicest thing he had said to her was… 'Thank you'… and then he knocked her out and left her there… abandoned her…

She nodded, still blushing.

"Really?"

She nodded again. _What is he doing… is he just messing with me…?_

"_Then… stop interfering with my happiness…" _Sasuke said seriously and with a frown.

Sakura's eyes widened and swelled even more. Sasuke just stared at her coldly. Then he closed his eyes… "Sakura… I've tried killing you before… I have never… ever… at all… been nice to you… please… have some dignity…" He opened his eyes and leaned forward to look at her "understand… that absolutely nothing makes you better than any of those other annoying girls that liked me… you're just like them… the only difference is that you were placed on my team… if it had been any other fangirl… it would've been exactly the same… we might have become friends… that's it…"

He had gone too far. She looked up at him in rage.

"SO WHY IS HINATA BETTER THAN ME??" Sakura screamed at him, weeping loudly. "It's just not fair!! She never cared about you!! At all!! You had never even spoken!! You probably didn't even know each other existed!!"

Again her face sunk.

"Sakura… don't shout… please, it's so irritating…" He pushed a finger into one of his ears, twisted and then stuck it back out. "Anyway… you're wrong… I noticed Hinata since the day your little fanclub started… I always… appreciated her and how she never once bothered me…"

Again she looked up with anger.

"She was in love with Naruto!! Would you have loved me if I had been in love with Naruto??"

"Maybe… probably not… but I would have liked you better… if she had been in our team instead of you… heh, I would've had one more reason to stay in Konoha back then… Her… and Naruto… it might have not made a difference… who knows…"

He grinned cynically on the inside… _I have… so much more crap to tell you… but… I'm already being harsh as it is…_

Sakura looked up at him. "Sasuke-kun… You've no idea what it's like… to love someone for so long… and to be rejected…"

_Yes I do… Hinata liked Naruto… she was only with me to help that idiot… _

Sasuke looked down… "I bet Naruto does."

Sakura looked at him intensely and looked down… _He's right… This is probably what Naruto feels like… all the time too… _

_Shut you up… _He grinned and then became serious again.

"Now… the big difference is that… Naruto loves you so much… he is actually trying to make me be nice to you… he actually wanted me to give you a chance… he just wants you to be happy… On the other hand", he stood up and looked at her with no emotion, "you're too selfish to even consider his feelings… or mine…"

Large tears began to stream down Sakura's eyes heavily… _He's… he's right…_

She shut her eyes tightly, holding herself… Then she opened them wide… _Naruto… I've been… so horrible to you… me… who knows exactly what you're going through… _She cried even harder…

Sasuke stared at her… _Is this it… does she get it now… Oh god… I hope so…_

He yawned… _Guhh… I'm tired… _He looked back at Sakura, who was still, _still_ crying. He stared at his nails for a moment and yawned again, looking at his watch.

"Sakura… get out already… I hope this helped you realize several things…" He walked up to her… still looking at his watch…

Sakura merely looked up at him with a deep frown.

_He's so careless… ugh… _

Sakura pulled her arm back and threw a punch at him, landing it right on his jaw, sending him flying across the living room and on to the kitchen wall.

Sasuke's body hit the wall hard, making it crack. He then fell onto the kitchen floor with a thud… He was knocked out cold. Pieces of the wall along with dust began to sprinkle across his body.

Sakura got on her feet and walked up to him. She stared at his unconscious body for a while… with hatred… _It wasn't fair… her whole childhood was dedicated to loving him… she even stopped being friends with Ino for him… _

"Sasuke… no baka…" she said softly and a tear fell gently from her cheek. She got on her knees and folded them, positioning herself next to him. She looked at him and picked him up, setting his head down on her lap. More tears dropped gently onto Sasuke's face. "Sasuke no baka!!" she said louder this time. She wiped her tears from her eyes roughly with her arm and then put her hands on the back of his head picking him up. Then, when she had lifted him enough she slowly inched her face down towards his, and pressed her lips to his. _Baka… baka baka baka , baka…I loved you so much… baka…_

Reluctantly, she pulled away from him and let him down on the floor. She got up slowly, wiping her eyes again and began walking out the door. As she walked down the hallway, she looked up and saw the former Hebi members walking out of the elevator. Her eyes widened…She looked back at the apartment… _I left Sasuke knocked out… They'll know…_

As soon as Karin saw her, the screaming started. "Ehh?? Haruno?? What the hell were you doing in the apartment??"

"None of your damn business, four eyes!" Sakura began to run. She'd never see the end of it if they saw Sasuke laying there completely unconscious. She ran toward the elevator and stepped in immediately. Then she pressed the close door button and waited. As it began closing, she saw Karin coming at her now furious. But she was too slow and the elevator began moving down. _Yokatta…_

Full of regret, Sakura began to walk home. Tears were still slowly making their way out of her eyes and down her face. She touched her lips. _Sasuke-kun… gomen…_

_You're going to hate me when you wake up… hate me more, that is…_

**(A/N: haha, this chapter was so dramatic… lol sorry… sakura has problems… she'll have a nice ending tho no worries… sakura lovers. Anyway, hope you all liked it… I think this chapter is shorter than some, but… I really just wanted this chapter to be about Sasuke and Sakura's argument… lol poor sasuke… she's right… he's gonna hate her even more when he wakes up. Hahahaha well anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter… hope it made you dislike sakura some more… lol well bye bye, let me know what you thought in a review okay?? My lovely reviewers!! MUAH!! See you later!)**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

He looked at the mirror once more. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. There… displayed on the right side of his gorgeous face… a huge purple bruise… He touched it lightly and pulled his hand back with an 'ouch'.

Hinata merely stared at him with pity. _Poor Sasuke… for taking so much pride in his face. _

Sasuke looked up at her. "Does it look THAT bad?" He held the mirror under his arm and slumped his shoulders forward putting on a grim expression. Hinata giggled a bit at this and looked down blushing.

"Y-you look as handsome as ever…" She held her hands to her face.

Sasuke grinned a bit and looked back at the mirror. _She's right… this is nothing… fucking Sakura… I will decapitate her if I see her… _

The door opened with a slam and Sasuke's cynical expression disappeared. He looked over to see Ino walk in and direct herself towards Sasuke… Sasuke looked at her with his signature angry expression. She hugged him.

"Oh, Sasuke!! I heard what happened!! I heard what that billboard brow did to you!!"

"Get the hell off me Ino…" Sasuke said, his voice muffled. Ino moved away still grinning widely. Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, and Shino walked in right after.

"Don't worry Sasuke-kun!! I'll tell her off for you!!" she looked over to Hinata "For you too Hinata-chan!! In fact, I'll tell her off for everyone in this room!! Hahahaha!!"

"You're just trying to find excuses to argue with her…" Shikamaru said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"DAMARE!!" Ino screamed at Shikamaru, who put one finger in his ear and yawned. Ino turned to Chouji and whined. "Chooooji!! Make him shut up!!"

Chouji just smiled nervously. Kiba and Shino stared at them for a while, along with Hinata and Sasuke. And then they moved towards Hinata to greet her.

Sasuke rolled his eyes… _So… damn noisy…_

After saying hi to Hinata, Kiba moved towards Sasuke's bed and began a hysterical laughter. "Oh god… it looks AWFUL… I guess you can be happy though… no more fangirls for you…" He continued laughing with Akamaru barking at his head.

Shino sat next to Hinata. "Is he as upset as you thought?"

"No. He's taking it okay." She smiled and looked at Sasuke who was busy arguing with Kiba.

"Did he remember what happened? He must've said something really bad to Sakura…"

"No, he said he remembers the argument, but he won't tell me exactly w-what was said…"

"I see. It must've been bad then."

"Nn… Kn-knowing S-sasuke… he can be… very cruel s-sometimes." Hinata merely kept looking at Sasuke.

"Not towards you though, right?" Shino looked at Hinata with much intensity. Hinata looked at Shino, and smiled. "No… not at all."

"Good…"

Hinata looked at Shino with wide eyes as he stood. _Shino… could be pretty intimidating…_

"Hinata… we have a mission tomorrow. Kakashi-sensei told me to let you know. You're taking some time off from Momoko's classes… You need to be at the gate by 9."

"Mm." Hinata nodded. "How long?"

"It shouldn't take more than 4 days…"

_Four? _She didn't want to be away from Sasuke for four days… She looked over at Sasuke and smiled a barely noticeable smile. She sighed closing her eyes and looked up at Shino, nodding her head.

"That's all.." Shino nodded his head and looked towards Kiba, beginning to walk towards him. Kiba was still arguing with Sasuke. It had apparently turned serious now and Shino was forced to grab Kiba by his arm and drag him away. Sasuke looked at Kiba with a killer glare as he was forced out the door.

Shino kept pulling Kiba until they had reached the elevator. "Let.Go."

Shino did as he was told and removed his grip on Kiba's arm. Kiba pulled his arm away and shoved it into his pocket. He looked down. Shino stared at him until the elevator ride was almost over.

"What happened?" Shino said in a quiet tone.

Kiba looked up… his eyes were full of sadness. He shook his head. Shino looked up and sighed. "Is this about Hinata?"

Kiba looked at Shino with rage. "Shut up!" The elevator rang, and Kiba pulled the doors open forcefully and ran out of the building. Shino stayed in the elevator, staring at the doors… he tried closing the doors and sighed when they didn't respond to the clicking of the button… _Oh well… they can blame it on the next person…_Shino walked out calmly.

* * *

Not to long after that, in Sasuke's room, Ino stared wide-eyed at Hinata after finding out that she and Sasuke were practically engaged. "Who would've thought… Sasuke would end up with the one girl that never even noticed him"

Sasuke glared at her…

"You know it's true, Sasuke…" Ino said pointing a finger at him. Then she giggled. "How cuuuutee!!"

Shikamaru sighed at how loud his team mate was. Then sighed once more when Sai walked into the room as well. Sasuke rolled his eyes. _Great… the guy that "looks like me"…_

"Hehe… Sasuke… I guess… I'm the more handsome one now, huh?" He smiled at Hinata, who merely blushed and looked at Sasuke… Sasuke stared at Sai with hate. He looked towards Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru, who all decided to walk out. Sai looked at Sasuke with a smile and then formed the peace sign with his fingers tilting his head a bit. "Bye then… Hinata-chan…" He put his fingers to his mouth and blew a kiss at her, shutting the door after him.

Sai grinned evilly and walked towards the elevator.

Sasuke looked at Hinata who was blushing madly… looking down at her hands, which were fidgeting.

_What the hell… is it true…_ Sasuke picked up the mirror and looked at himself again. _It would wear off, it would come off, it would wear off, it will come off…_

Sasuke looked at Hinata again as she picked up the chair and moved it next to his bed. She grabbed his hand that was holding the mirror. "A-ano… put it down… y-you look fine… it will come off a-anyway, Sasuke-k-kun……" He let go of the mirror and looked at her. "What did Shino tell you?"

"We're having a mission tomorrow. Shino-kun says he doesn't think it'll last m-more than… f-four days…"

_Four days?? Damn… _"Mm… just take care then." He said looking down with a scowl.

"M-mad, S-sasuke-kun… why?" Hinata said still holding his hand.

"Ehh… why would I be mad?" Sasuke said grinning. "Getting cocky aren't we? Just cuz you're getting all these fanboys now…"

Hinata blushed and squeezed his hand tightly. "Sasuke-kun!"

He grinned again and then got serious. "So, how close are you with your team mates…?"

Hinata's eyes widened… "W-What?? What are you talking a-about?"

"Heh, nothing… nevermind." He said discarding Kiba from his mind. He seemed so upset when Sasuke brought up Hinata in the conversation.

Flashback

"Tch… I guess all your little fan girls will replace you now, eh? You should be glad!!" He began cackling again.

Sasuke frowned. "Ah, well. Not like I care. I got your teammate now don't I? I guess all those fangirls didn't matter in the end… you can keep 'em if you'd like…"

Kiba stopped laughing at this. He grinned widely. "Tche… I guess you do have her now… but don't forget Uchiha, a lot can happen between now and 3 years from now."

"HAH! Don't tell me you think you're a threat… I'm me… you couldn't even get your own teammate to like you… that's cuz she knew you…"

Kiba's face turned completely serious at this comment… he turned his face away and looked at Hinata… "You don't know a lot of things about her Uchiha… what you know will never compare with what I know… all the experiences we shared… you can't replace us to her…."

"Oh really!! Well… there are definitely experiences we've had that you'll never even know about, if you know what I mean…" Sasuke said retaliating, not really thinking anymore.

"Hinata isn't like that you fucking moron!!"

"Like what, Inuzuka!! Save your fucking assumptions!!"

Until Shino stopped them…

End of Flashback

Sasuke looked at Hinata and he knew he could trust her… her… not Kiba… her…

He'd have to see her off tomorrow and throw Kiba a warning. He wasn't sure that was how Kiba felt for her… but just the thought of Kiba trying something… something funny... was not funny at all. In fact, he might kill Kiba…

Hinata smiled at him with her rosy cheeks and reassured him that she would be fine and that she would try to finish the mission as soon as possible. He nodded and they said goodbye to each other. He pulled her down by her arm and kissed her forehead. She merely blushed like crazy and bowed before walking out the door.

Sasuke smirked… and then rolled over on the bed, falling asleep. He was tired of looking at himself in the mirror anyway…

* * *

Hinata walked home slowly, not really wanting to leave the hospital. She was mad at Sakura… for breaking Sasuke's jaw. The nurses did a good job of relocating it, fortunately. Hinata had been hit by Sakura before, and her whole collar bone had shattered… It just wasn't something she wished for anyone. Especially not Sasuke… who was so proud of his looks.

When Hinata reached her home she slowly pulled open the gate and walked in, taking off her shoes. She walked towards her room and began packing clothes, some food, and of course weapons. _Wonder what this mission is about… _She thought not noticing when Neji walked in.

"Hinata-sama" Neji said bowing "may i?"

Hinata turned to face him and smiled nodding. Then she resumed with her packing. Neji came and sat next to her on the floor. "How is he?"

"Mn? Oh, h-he's fine, Neji-niisan. His jaw has successfully healed, and it's in p-place now…"

"I see…." He paused for a moment. "Hinata-sama, are you sure you're alright with marrying at such a young age? And with him?"

Hinata looked at Neji and smiled again, nodding her head. A slight blush now present on her cheeks. Neji sighed. "Okay then… if that's what you wish… I promise to protect both of you… with my life." He paused again, with a scowl on his face. _Tch… now I have to protect the damn Uchiha too…_

"Neji, do… do you know why father agreed to this marriage so easily?"

"Mm. You're the heiress… we don't know what kind of blood limit your kids will produce, if you marry Uchiha, that is. He's hoping you two form something different… and then Hanabi doesn't have to be cursed with the seal. Even if you all don't create some new clan of shinobi, the Uchiha name… is honorable enough for your father. He thinks they're worthy… He's just being pressured at the moment, but, he really doesn't want to give Hanabi the seal"

Hinata looked down with wide eyes… "Otoosama… being pressured. I-it's so difficult to b-believe…"

"Yes… I agree…" Neji nodded and put his hand to his forehead.

"I'm so sorry Niisan…" Hinata looked down. She wondered if Neji still held resent for her and her father.

"Please… don't worry yourself, Hinata-sama. I … understand now that it was not your fault" He smiled at her. Then he picked himself up. "Well, I will leave you now, to your business. Shitsurei shimasu."

Hinata nodded a bit unnerved by how formal her own cousin was with her. She then turned back to her backpack and finished up her packing. She stood up supporting herself with the wall and placed it next to her bed. Looking outside the window, she realized it was still early afternoon. _I can go look for Shino-kun and Kiba-kun to get the mission briefing…_

She grabbed her pouch and walked out of her house.

**(A/N: Hey you all… lol this chapter was completely pointless… but I wanted to explain why Hiashi accepted Sasuke with open arms… yeah, I wanted to make hiashi a good guy here. Haha… anyway, just in case you all are asking yourselves, yes, Kiba kind of likes Hinata, but not really that much in that way. He just doesn't want her to forget her teammates. And sai just flirted with her to piss off sasuke. Haha. He has nothing for her. Well then, hope you all didn't see this as a waste of time… hehe… (;)… and well leave reviews please!! Haha love you all bye bye!!)**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Hinata dragged her pouch along her side, lazily tying it around her hips. She just couldn't get her mind off the fact that she was gonna be gone for four days… away from Sasuke…. With Sakura in town… who knows what else would happen between those two… It sincerely worried her. She knew Sasuke would be angry at her for leaving his jaw in its current state…

Walking down the street towards Kiba's house, Hinata spotted Kakashi sitting nearby on a bench reading… the same books he was always reading. The ones by Jiraiya. She stopped for a moment until he looked up at her and smiled beneath his mask. He put one hand up and said casually, "Yo, Hinata-chan…"

"Konnichiwa, Kaka-sensei." She bowed curtly and approached him. "A-ano… I was wondering about the mission we received… What rank is it, and what kind… Th-that is… can I have the briefing…?" She said. She didn't know why she still couldn't get used to having Kakashi as her teacher. She was so used to Kurenai… It had been a while now since Kakashi became their new teacher, but she just always hoped to have Kurenai back one day.

"Ah, yes. It is an S ranked mission." She looked up with wide eyes, then looked back down at her hands, her eyes still wide… _S-ranked… that can't be good…_

Kakashi noticed her uneasiness at his statement and smiled again. "Ah, there is a chance it will be a piece of cake, Hinata-chan… The reason it is ranked so highly is because we don't really know what you all will be up against… Lately, there have been parts of the forest that have been destroyed… Either by fire, Ice, or something else… that merely kills all the vegetation, along with the animals. We think someone, a specific someone, is behind all this." He smiled. "That's all."

Hinata merely looked at him and smiled, bowing her head politely. "Arigatoo, sensei, shitsuree shimasu." With that, she stood up and took her leave. _S-ranked… Might be easy… then again, might be more than we can handle…_ Her mood had evidently fallen to a glum state. It was noticeable in her features, the way she walked as well.

_Should I let Sasuke know? I would only worry him… _As she kept walking, she decided not to. He would only object to it… and probably get into more trouble by doing so. No, she'd just keep it to herself… and risk him getting angry at her… if he were to find out, that is. She slowly kept pacing until she finally reached her home.

* * *

Sasuke was awakened by a loud knocking noise, and the sound of Tsunade's yells. He rolled his eyes… _Oh… Great… That hag…_

He closed his eyes, hoping she would give up and leave, but no good. She only screamed as soon as she stepped in through the door. "Uchiha Sasuke!! I have good news. Very Very good news… If you're asleep, and you don't hear me… I will disregard, I repeat, disregard this as if nothing happened!!"

Sasuke shot up… with a bored expression, but he shot up nonetheless. "Naani yo?"

"Naruto has decided… that he won't boss you around anymore… apparently, you did something very good, and he's grateful to you. So, he has made it official. You no longer have to listen to anyone… except me of course, and anyone in a higher level than you…" She paused and looked up at him, throwing him a malicious grin. "Oh yeah, you're only a genin aren't you… that means… you basically have to listen to everyone anyway…. Except Naruto… who is also a genin still." She put her hand up to her mouth and laughed in an exaggerated volume.

Sasuke merely sat there, slouched over looking at her with hatred. _Fucking hag…_

When she was finally able to stop laughing, she looked at him and crossed her arms. "That will be all." With that she walked out the door, slamming it hard, making some of the hinges of the door loosen with a loud creak. His eye twitched. _What a monster…_

He layed back down on the bed resting his head on the pillows. His arms behind his head.

_I did something good then… _He shut his eyes. _What did I do right? Sakura… wouldn't understand so quickly… but then again… she punched me… hard too… so maybe… maybe she finally came to her senses… _

He really hoped so… Seeing Sakura again… would be awkward. He wasn't really looking forward to it either. He knew his temper would get the best of him… After all, she left half of his cheek purple. He never really cared much for scars on his face… but this… looked really crappy… and just the way he got it… was so embarrassing. A girl punched the living daylights out of it. There was nothing cool about that. He frowned, touching his face. _That bitch…_

With nothing else to look forward to for the rest of the day, he simply picked himself off the bed, positioning himself in sit-up position. Then he stretched his arms out beside him and yawned deeply. _Ahh... _He looked towards the door to catch a glimpse of Naruto passing by through the window. _Ehh... What's he doing here?_

He removed the blankets off him and stood up walking to the door. He opened the door and pushed it open, walking cooly to the hallway staring at Naruto, who was walking away.

"Oi, baka..." Sasuke crossed his arms and grinned.

Naruto turned and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He smiled goofily and began walking towards Sasuke.

"You couldn't even memorize the room number? Baka na..." He chuckled mockingly a bit and made room for Naruto to walk into the room. Naruto walked in glaring at him.

"So..." Sasuke said after he got back into the bed and layed back comfortably. "What did I do right?"

Naruto continued glaring at him.

Sasuke only stared. One brow up and the other down in confusion. _This isn't like him... not talking... _

"Well... after Sakura left your place... she came to me." He blushed lightly.

Sasuke's head went up and he smirked. "Ehh?... and??"

"Well... she apologized... for treating me badly for so long, she said that now, she knew how it felt... I was really moved..." Naruto put his hands in his pocket and smiled widely. "She hugged me and everything... I felt awful for her, but it felt good... all at once..." He looked up at Sasuke nervously. "Thanks.."

Sasuke smiled and shut his eyes, shrugging it off. "I really don't understand why it took her so long... I mean... I don't think I ever presented her with hope..." He scratched his head and looked up trying to recall... _Nope..._

He looked at Naruto. "So... she's into you now, right?"

"Not exactly... she... ummm Sasuke... she kissed you right after she knocked you out... jaw broken and everything." He looked up at a shocked Sasuke and smiled sadly. "I think she still has feelings for you..."

"She... kissed me while I was knocked out...?" Sasuke frowned. "Does she have no sense of pride...?"

"Anyway, that's all I came to say to you..." He got up from the chair and stretched his arms out a bit, yawning. He looked over at Sasuke with a wide grin. "She'll see the light..." He did the thumbs up sign and walked out...

Sasuke stared at him dumbfounded as he disappeared behind the door. _Wow... that dork... _

He smiled, and shut his eyes once again.

* * *

Hinata made her way through the halls of the Hyuuga mansion uneasily. She was to inform her father about the mission she would be going on. He would probably just tell her to be careful... and to not slow everyone down. Before she knew it, she had reached the door to her fathers study. She stopped, making an abrupt turn. She stared at the patterns on the wooden door for a second, taking in deep, long-lasting breaths... Her father had changed towards her, he was kinder, somehow, but still, he unnerved her.

She took one last breath and knocked on the door, immediately falling to her knees. She threw her head down waiting to hear the door slide open. When she did, she shut her eyes tightly.

Hiashi looked down upon his daughter with an indifferent expression. "What is it?"

"Otoo-sama... I will depart tomorrow morning on a mission. I may not be back for a while..." She looked up briefly and her eyes wandered down again.

"Mm. Take care of yourself, and watch out for your friends as well." She looked up again and bowed until he slid the door shut again. Hinata breathed out loudly and threw one hand up to her mouth. _Hope... he didn't hear that..._

She slowly pushed herself up and began walking to her room. Tomorrow would be the big day. She didn't even remember the last time she had gone on a mission, and all of a sudden, her and her team mates get an S-ranked one... It was a bit nerve wrecking for her.

She reached her room and removed the luggage from her futon, in order to lie down in its place. She knew she would need the rest, and she would probably be better off if she left wide awake tomorrow, maybe do some training in the morning. She nodded to herself deciding she would wake up early to spar with Neji a bit. Then she lay her hands to her side, one on top of the other and put her head on top. She slowly shut her eyes and went into deep sleep.

* * *

Neji didn't seem to understand that she only wanted to warm up a bit before leaving. He seemed to be going at her at full force. It was exhausting. Hinata panted heavily before getting ready to guard Neji's next move. She quickly put one arm up, shielded by chakra and slipped behind him. She withdrew her left palm back and gained force, directing it at the back of Neji's neck. She stopped. _No, not his neck..._ She moved her palm slightly off course and her hand was caught by Neji, who was shaking his head in shame.

"Hinata-sama... you... would be so much stronger if you knew no mercy."

Hinata smiled weakly. "Sorry, can we stop here?"

He nodded his head and released his grip on her wrist. He bowed, then they made their way inside the house. It would soon be eight o' clock. She had to go shower before she left, she could never stand being sweaty for too long. She bowed to Neji politely, who bowed down as well and they split paths. She broke into a sprint and made her way to the baths.

* * *

Sasuke by that time, was already walking towards the entrance to Konoha. He knew she wouldn't be gone for too long, but he was bored... It was the perfect time to argue with Kiba again. It was just so fun to him.

He dragged his feet lazily across the floor and grinned when he looked up to see Kiba was already there as well. Not Shino, not Hinata... Just Kiba.

He walked over to Kiba who threw him an evil smile. "Here to see us off ehh? Sasuke?"

"Not 'us' just a certain someone."

Kiba grinned and looked up to Akamaru who had begun growling at Sasuke. Sasuke frowned at it and looked back down at Kiba.

"Hm? Akamaru doesn't seem to like you... wonder why..."

"Cuz it likes people closer to animal species?"

"He likes Hinata, and well... Hinata loves him."

Sasuke frowned. "I hate animals anyway, I don't care about your stupid dog." He crossed his arms and leaned against one of the gates lazily. He opened one when he saw Hinata approaching in the distance. She was walking slowly and running her hands through her hair, which was wet.

Sasuke blushed slightly and looked to the other side. _Geez... I'm pathetic..._

She looked up when she got closer. "Sasuke-kun, Kiba-kun!" She moved her hand from her hair and waved with a smile. Her steps fastened to a slight jog.

"Ohayoo, Sasuke-kun, Kiba-kun." She bowed.

Kiba returned her greeting and Sasuke merely nodded. He shoved his hands in his pocket. _God... I feel so fucking stupid... Feels like I just came here to see her off... Just not done..._

Sasuke looked up casually and looked around. "So, where's Shino?"

"I've been here the whole time." Came a voice from behind a nearby tree. "But nobody ever notices."

Sasuke stared as he made his way to the group. _This guy... is so creepy._

"Ohayoo Shino-kun." Hinata said a bit nervously. She smiled.

Kiba looked at Sasuke. "Well, I guess we'll be off now. Thanks for seeing us off, Sasuke..." Kiba said sarcastically grinning widely. He began walking off, Akamaru traling behind him. Shino, too walked off without another word.

Hinata looked up at Sasuke and smiled with a blush. "Thanks for coming, Sasuke-kun." She bowed. "I will see you when I get back?"

He nodded with a slight grin as he watched her figure disappear into the woods beyond the gates. He sighed and looked up... _These days are gonna be a real pain in the ass... I should tell her about Sakura's dirty act when she gets back... That would be fun to see..._

He grinned evilly and tucked his hands in his pockets walking back to his apartment.

**(A/N: lol okay, so the last chapter really did suckk... only 3 reviews... :( I'm so sorry guys. This one isn't any better, but I will tell you that this mission is gonna be a big deal... it's gonna cause a major problem, and after that problem is resolved, that's it for this story... I see no point in making it too much longer. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. Thanks, bye bye!!)**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Hinata scanned around once more with her Byakugan, desperately trying to locate whoever was out there. She looked down at her team mates, who were laying on the ground, both unconscious. Why wasn't the smoke affecting her?

They really hadn't expected to encounter the phenomena so quickly. In fact, it had only been a little less than a whole day since they had departed from Konohagakure. They had been told to find whoever was causing disaster in the forest. The fires, the blizzards, and that something else... Needless to say, they were pretty confident that they could take on this mission. They were also really looking forward to completing it. It was their first S-ranked mission. An excellent opportunity to boost their worth as ninjas. Most ninjas didn't see S-ranked missions until they became jounin.

* * *

_If the smoke hasn't affected me, it's because that's how they want it... I'm... the weakest of the three, I should have been the first to pass out._

It had been obvious that this firestorm was someone's jutsu. It had only been about 18 hours since they left Konoha, and they were again, taking a break, eating their bento, when out of nowhere, flames rose up around them. No indication that anyone was nearby, no nothing. There was no process in which the flames grew, and if there was, it had been too quick to notice... It wasn't spreading towards them either... The flames only grew taller and taller. Only a small hint of the sky was visible from above.

Shino had noticed this small gap and tried to form some kind of floating platform with his bugs only to be blocked by flames, which burned a good amount of his insects. He let them scatter causing him to fall all the way down. He landed swiftly on his feet only to stare in shock at what had become of some of his beloved bugs. He looked up to see Kiba holding Akamaru tightly. Apparently, he had tried the same thing, to no avail. Akamaru's face was now badly burnt and Kiba seemed like he would burst into tears at any moment... Shino brought up an arm to his face and he began coughing. Hinata merely activated her Byakugan trying to find whoever was doing this...

She looked at her team mates. They were both coughing now ... hard. The coughing, increasing in volume every second made Hinata's eyes burst into tears... _What's happening...? Why isn't the smoke hurting me...? _

She looked up once more, still nothing.

She dropped down to her knees. Her head fallen... She lay a hand on each one of her team mates, who had, by now, passed out due to the smoke. She brought one arm up her face. It just didn't make sense for the smoke to take so long to overwhelm her. She squinted a bit as her vision began to blur.

She looked up immediately when she heard footsteps approaching. A figure formed among the flames and soon, a boy stood there, smiling down at her.

"Hinata-sama... We've been waiting..." He extended one hand to her.

He was a boy, probably about three to four years older than her. His skin was tan, with a few black spots due to the flames. His hair was pure white, carelessly placed in spikes that fell all around his face. He was wearing a traditional yukata with tall geta sandals. The yukata was white and had small patterns of blue fire balls (spirit type of thing) along the bottom of the robe. His eyes were yellow. She couldn't tell if it was because of the glow of the fire, or if they were natural.

She realized the smoke was beginning to have its effect on her breathing as well, and before she knew it, her eyes rolled back and everything faded to black.

* * *

Sasuke rolled his eyes for the fiftieth time. Listening to Naruto was so annoying... Especially when it involved that certain someone that had caused nearly a fourth of his face to be all shades of purple. Not only that, but it was a bit swollen too. He looked at Naruto again and yawned holding a hand up to his mouth.

Naruto was laying there on his couch as comfortable as he could be, while Sasuke was sitting up on one of his smaller couches listening to his endless babble. Who on earth had told Naruto that Sasuke was a good listener... Just because he was quiet, did not make him a good listener. He never cared enough for anyone to actually give away some of his time so that they can talk endlessly about themselves. It was such a pain. The only one that ever listened was Hinata... they would actually take turns... she spoke as seldom as he did, so it was actually kind of balanced when it came to who was listening and who was talking.

Both Naruto and Sakura were talkers...

"Oi, baka, do you ever get tired of talking?"

Naruto scratched his chin for a moment looking up thoughtfully. "Nope..." He grinned widely at Sasuke, who stared back with pure disgust.

Naruto's eyes opened widely and he frowned. "Waaaiiiittt... what are you trying to say, temee??" Naruto said sitting up and shaking a fist in the air.

Sasuke grinned for a split second and his face fell again. "Nothing, baka..."

"Ah, by the way, have you gone to get clothes already..." He eyed Sasuke who was wearing a shirt that had fit maybe two years ago. That, and a pair of Suigetsu's pants.

Sasuke looked down at himself. The shirt fit extremely tight. That, and it revealed a bit of his stomach. _I haven't gone out... Nobody has seen me in this..._

He looked up at Naruto with a glare... "I do wash them and take a shower every day, you idiot!!"

"It's still really gross, temee." He laid back down. Then back up again. "So... you wanna go?"

"Tch... I'll tell you now... you have no say in what I get..." He began walking with his hands in his pocket and his eyes shut. He eyed Naruto up and down when he got up to follow. Then he made a face. "Yeah... you definitely aren't allowed to give me any suggestions."

"Ehh?? What the hell does that mean temee??" Naruto looked down at what he was wearing and looked back up. "You think you dress better than me?? Pfff, pleeeezzz, I'm way better dressed."

"Yeah, that explains the endless fangirls you've had in your life..." Sasuke said sarcastically.

"I had one fangirl." He stuck out one finger in front of Sasuke's face.

Sasuke thought for a moment, staring at his finger... then his face fell... _Hinata..._ A dark cloud rained over his head.

"Awww, come on temeee... you know I didn't mean it!!" Naruto said loudly, trying to break the wall Sasuke had created between them. "Oiii!! Temmeee!! Are you really going out into the public wearing that shirt??"

"OOOIIIIIIII!!"

* * *

Hinata shot up as her eyes blinked like crazy. She began to whimper as she slapped her hands up to her eyes. _What's wrong with them? _She ran her fingers gently down her eyelids at first. Then she began rubbing, harder, harder. "Guhhh... my e-eyes!!"She shrieked.

She felt them burning into her skull. She had never felt this before. The pain was overwhelming. She couldn't even tell whether her eyeballs were even there, or if they had been pulled out of her sockets.

"Ughh... AAAGHHHH!!" She began shrieking frantically now digging away with her nails on her eyelids. _What had they done to her??_ She fell over, landing hard on the ground then rolling over on her stomach still screaming away at the pain. The floor was pure stone and the crash had been loud, and painful.

"Hinata-sama!! Yamero!!" She heard footsteps approach her at amazing speed and she felt two hands grab a hold of hers, stopping her frantic scratching. Her body was lifted by her wrists and she was being held with her back against her restrainer. Her shrieks turned into small whimpers and sniffling, and then finally she slowly opened her eyes. At first it was just a blur. Nothing but various shades of gray everywhere. She turned her face slightly to see a new mix of colors. White, yellow, and tan. _That boy... the one from the flames._

Her eyes finally adjusted and she could clearly see that it was indeed that boy from earlier. He had a worried expression on his face. "Can you refrain from scratching?"

He nodded his head and looked at her anxiously. She nodded slowly and he released her hands. Her face fell along with her hands. He gently moved away the hair in front of her face. He looked down.

"Baka na... You went too far..." He stood up, pulling her up with him and setting her down on the table again. "I'll be back..." He said and walked out the door. Hinata looked around. She had no idea where she was or what had happened to her team mates. Her vision blurred with the tears that began swelling in her eyes... She slowly put her feet down on the floor and tried to stand, failing miserably, only causing her to crash onto the floor loudly. _What's wrong with me...?_

The boy reached the doorway and looked in rolling his eyes at the sight of Hinata, once again sitting on the floor... "Tch... well at least you didn't touch them again, huh?"

Hinata looked up at him and saw him holding a tray full of medical herbs, a bowl, some cups and a large boulder. He set the tray down on the table and squatted down to her level. She jumped back slightly. He smiled and held a hand out for her to grab. She took it and he pulled her up easily, helping her sit back on the table. "Stay still already..."

She nodded her head looking over at the herbs he had set up on the table. She recognized all of them. None of them were harmful.

His eyes moved over in her direction and then down to the herbs which he put in the bowl and began crushing, gradually adding more herbs or more water here and there. His hand slowly moved towards a towel that sat neatly folded at the edge of the tray. He carefully dipped it into the bowl and began moving it towards her face. Out of pure surprise, Hinata instinctively slapped it out of his hand. The yellow eyes moved towards the towel and then back at Hinata.

He shut his eyes for a moment and looked back at her with a scowl. His hand made its way to her face where he grabbed her roughly, his fingers digging into her cheeks. "Look at me..." Hinata's eyes stared wide open into his eyes. "Brining you water, herbs, or any of that junk was not part of my orders." He released her roughly. "So try showing some appreciation..." He made his way to the towel and bent down to pick it up.

He could hear her sniffle and whine almost incoherently. "I-I'm sorry... I-I just... M-my team mates..." Her whining became a little louder as he stood up to face her.

"We left them there... I wouldn't worry, they'll find them soon..." He began walking towards her. "I don't know if you noticed, Hinata-sama..."

Hinata looked up at him as he began pressing the wet cloth against her face, cleaning away the dry blood that had settled all over her face. She looked at him anxiously.

"Close your eyes..." She did. She obeyed him. She felt the damp cloth being smoothly ran over her eyelids. It stung slightly. Which was a good thing, she knew that.

"Le-left them there? Noticed wh-what?"

"We were never after them..." He removed his hand from her face and threw the towel back into the bowl.

"W-what...?"

He turned to look at her seriously. _She really is clueless..._ "Have you even realized where you are?"

Hinata looked around and recognized the Hidden Cloud symbol on a scroll that was hanging on a wall sloppily. _Hidden Cloud??_

She trembled... and then turned to look at him with a look of pure "W-what's happening here?? Who are you?" Her breathing was becoming heavier as she recalled where she had heard of this village before.

He looked down and sighed. "My name is Saitou Ryunosuke. Yes, this is the village that tried to kidnap you once as a child..."

Hinata's eyes shot wide open. She began shaking. "W-what did you do t-to my eyes?"

"It was just so you wouldn't be able to use your Byakugan for some time... The stinging won't come back, but you won't be able to use your technique for a while either..."

Hinata's hand came up to her lip in fear. Her eyes began leaking in tears... _This is it for me... _She looked up at Ryunosuke who was still standing there with the same stare. "So- so this is..."

"Our second try at experimenting with the Byakugan."

He leaned on the frame of the door and scratched his head lazily avoiding her eyes. "I imagine that after hearing that, you're not too excited about staying here... I'll just have to close this for now..." He moved back a bit and grabbed a hold of a heavy looking door, pushing it closed.

Hinata screamed. She pulled her hair frantically. _If they use me to learn about the Byakugan, I will disgrace my whole family... Otoosan will regret not giving me the cursed seal... I'll become the most hated member of the Hyuuga clan... I'll ruin the clan, nobody will ever forgive me..._

It was too much for her to handle. She looked up to see a tiny window located at the uppermost corner. The only light source too. Hinata once again tried standing up on her legs and once again, she collapsed. She scratched at the floor screaming in desperation. _What am I gonna do...? _She scratched harder and harder, until she couldn't feel her fingers anymore. Then her cries went silent, and everything darkened again.

**(A/N: heh, I hope this wasn't too sudden for you guys...my opinion, it was. But when this idea clicked I didn't wanna swing around it anymore. I just wanted to throw it in there. Please forgive me... anyway, hope this gave you guys some curiosity on what's gonna happen next... I will say, that this is the last obstacle... and that's it for this story... well hope you all didn't think it was too bad. Please leave your reviews to let me know if this was too rash, I can rewrite it if too many of you didn't like it, or wanted it to come slower... haha next chapter is... well, sasuke will see kiba and shino return, but no hinata...how will he react?? haha i'll leave it at that...well bye bye!!)**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

"Uchiha... I'll say it again... you're lucky you received such light punishment. The only thing left as part of it, is to tie some bonds... marry as soon as you're old enough... I've gone through hell with the elders for you... more for Naruto... and you're still bitching at me half of the time!!" Tsunade's monstrous voice reached Sasuke from behind an enormous pile of papers, which she was stamping at maddening speed. Sasuke had been there early in the morning until now... late afternoon, just because he had nothing better to do. He was bored. He wasn't allowed on missions... It was reasonable, but he thought it was worth a whole day of bugging the Hokage.

"You say there's only one thing... I have bonds... that doesn't bother me... my brother is out of the picture already... why can't I do missions as well?"

The stamping stopped abruptly and Tsunade poked her head out of the mountains. "Uchiha!! Do I really need to state my reason? You are obviously not trusted yet... you're lucky I haven't done anything about those people you brought in to Konoha..." She slapped a hand to her forehead and sighed loudly.

"Get out."

"I'm bored... my skills are gonna get dull" Sasuke rested his head on his arms.

"GET OUTTTT!!" Tsunade pointed at the door, which was right behind the chair that Sasuke was propped on at the moment.

"Tch..." Sasuke sighed and stood up slowly, bringing his dark eyes up to Tsunade, hoping his stare would do the trick... why he thought that would work... he didn't even know.

"Tsunade-sama..." Shizune's head appeared from the doorway. Her voice seemed hoarse, like she had been running.

"What is it now... Shizune?" Tsunade's body seemed to grow flacid as she disappeared behind the piles of documents. _This was not a smart move, dammit..._

"Eto..." She looked at Sasuke who was standing still with his hands shoved in his pockets, staring at her curiously.

"Shino and Kiba have returned..." She bowed down curtly. Her body still halfway out the doorway.

Sasuke looked at her with a worried scowl. _Shino and Kiba? Did she just exclude Hinata on purpose?Or..._

Tsunade's now rigid body rose again from behind the pile. She stared nervously at Sasuke. "Where are they?" she turned to look at Shizune with a furrowed brow.

Shizune looked at Sasuke again and bowed her head. "They're under intensive care, apparently they inhaled too much smoke back there... But they will be fine... they are stabilizing."

Sasuke's eyes widened... He quickly broke into a run and pushed past Shizune. _She better be okay..._

* * *

Hinata stared out the window with half-closed eyes. The sky was beginning to darken. She was tired. She had cried all day. She had caused the ruin of her entire clan... She brought her hands up to touch her eyelids. They had slight scabs on them from the scratching. Her vision was slightly blurry. Her eyes burned slightly, but that didn't compare to every other sort of pain she felt at the moment.

She slowly dragged herself to a corner and rested her head back on the stone wall. Not very comfortable. For a person who had called her -sama... she would have thought she would be treated more fairly... But no such luck. They had just kept her in the same room... The only thing other than an endless amount of scrolls on shelves and a wide table in the center...was the floor. Not really a great thing to sleep on, but the table wasn't any better...

She began to let out small sobs as she buried her face in her arms. _Otoosama... Hanabi...Honto ni gomenasai..._

Her face shot up at the sound of footsteps. She dried her tears roughly with her arm and stood up slowly, using the wall behind her as support. A light was shone directly at her face and she was almost completely blinded. She held up one arm to covered her eyes.

Before she knew it, she heard more footsteps and was grabbed roughly by the arm and thrown on the table. She held a scream in and her body began to shake. She shut her eyes tightly only to feel a hand force her eyelids open and shine the light straight into her eye again. The other hand holding her down by the neck.

She swallowed hard and began coughing loudly. The hand was pushed down a little too much. Finally she felt the hand lift and she opened her eyes. She squinted to see Ryunosuke and a much older looking man talking right outside the door. Ryunosuke looked at her with a strange expression and turned back shamefully at the man. Then the man left and Ryunosuke entered the room.

Hinata lowered herself off the table and stood next to it with her hands clasped tightly together. She was nervous, she didn't notice her nails digging into her skin. "W-what is i-it?"

He looked at her with his bright yellow eyes and then looked back down sighing. "I've done too much for you... you're kinda troublesome." He scratched the back of his head in worry. He had been told to do something sneaky to attract Konoha's attention. He did. It was all planned out. They would definitely send out the number one tracking team in Konoha, and that was it... There wasn't supposed to be anything else to it. Capture Hinata, and have her dissected, if she was lucky enough, have only her eyes removed and dissected. But he couldn't take it. He had added a touch of his herbs to her eyes, to make them stop working for a while... to loan her some time... The leader of the village was suspicious of him, he knew something was up. He had no idea why he wanted to help her so much.

She gave him a confused look. "S-sou k-ka...? G-gomenasai, Ryunosuke-san..." she bowed slightly.

He looked at her for a while... staring hard into her. It was a bit unnerving to Hinata who merely looked around in order to distract herself from his glowing eyes. He finally looked away sadly and stood up. He lifted his head up a bit and then slowly walked out the door carefully shutting it behind him. He stayed there, leaning against the door. He brought up both of his hands to his hair and pulled it in frustration. His face showing a slight hint of pity mixed in with anger. He growled under his breath and punched the door harshly, then storming down the hall with a trail of stomping noises.

Hinata merely sunk to the ground and once again shoved her face in her arms. _This is the second time I'm captive... _She smiled slightly at the memories of Sasuke and her... Then tears began to fall out again. _I might not make it out this time though..._

* * *

Sasuke ran to the hospital at top speed pushing several people out of his way. When he finally reached the hospital, he cut in front of everyone and screamed harshly at the reception nurse. "Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba!!" he said desperately, ignoring the rude remarks mixed with several giggles coming from the line of people behind him.

"I-I'm sorry bu—"

"What room dammit!!"

The nurse flinched and squeaked out "357" and pointed towards the nearest elevator.

Sasuke ran to the elevator and pushed the buttons forcefully. The door opened and he stepped inside pressing the close button immediately. _Third floor_.

He pressed the button with the three on it and began pacing back and forth. _She better be okay... They all better be okay..._

He heard the ding of the elevator and ran out scanning the small signs that hung off each door. _357, 357, 357... _When he finally located it, he paused before walking slowly towards the door. _Please tell me they didn't exclude her because of what I think..._

Hesitant, he twisted the knob and pulled the door open. His eyes were shut tight and when he opened them, his body felt a bit weak. Hinata wasn't there. Kiba and Shino were laid down on two seperate beds, both with minimal burns on what was visible of their body. He pulled his gaze away slowly shutting his eyes tight. They were burning... His fists clenched shut, next to his body. _Where is she...? Did she not return?... She was supposed to come back with them..._

He looked up, some light back in his eyes. "Maybe in another room..." He said to himself quietly and headed for the door only to be blocked by Tsunade's body which was leaning against the door frame. She was staring at Sasuke with a worried expression.

"Where is she...?" He said, trying hard to speak with his jaw clenched. His arms were tensed, his thumbs drawing circles roughly against his index.

Tsunade sighed and looked down. "We don't know Sasuke... The Anbu squad only found them... Hinata was gone..."

Sasuke's head sunk. _This isn't happening..._

"We'll just have to wait... maybe the Anbu will pick up on her. Or we can wait until Shino or Kiba wake up. Maybe they saw what happened to her." Tsunade said, her forehead resting on her fingertips. Then she looked up at Sasuke, who still hadn't raised his head.

She walked over to him and grabbed his face roughly by his chin, forcing him to face her. "Uchiha... mock my words... if you do something stupid to try to recover her... you'll be brutally punished." She pointed menacingly at his face. She softened her grip when she noticed how wet his eyes were. She shut her eyes sadly. "I hope you don't have to go through what I went through..." she said beginning to walk towards the door. "Please be patient... it's too early to know anything right now..."

Sasuke looked up at her walking out the door. _She's right..._

He turned back to look at Shino and Kiba. _They better wake up soon... or they better find her soon... or I'm gonna do something really stupid..._

**(A/N: hey guys... it' s been a while. Sorry. Well yeah this chapter was kinda to give you all a hint of where this thing will end up. Like foreshadowing, sorta... haha well, thanks to those of you who actually continued reviewing. Hahaha. I'm really grateful you've been so kind and patient with me. I read it not too long ago and it did get really boring for a while... hehehe... sorry, it's my first story though. That's my excuse. Ahahaha well please leave some reviews. Please? Hahah bye guys. Sorry it was kinda short. I just felt this was an appropriate closing.)**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Suigetsu looked at Karin awkwardly. Karin looked down with a sad look and shrugged slowly. Her hands tucked nervously between her knees. They had never seen Sasuke so upset before. Juugo even looked a bit concerned for him. Juugo was actually standing next to the doorway to Sasuke's room, much to everyone's surprise. Sasuke, not too long ago had walked into the apartment, glared at all of them, his eyes extremely moist, leaving everyone without a hope for words. He had been crying, or was about to. He walked to his room, stomping loudly and turned to look at them. "What the fuck are you all staring at?" Had his eyes not looked so pained, or his voice sounded so choked, they would've all replied with a rude comment. But not this time, no, they couldn't.

"I wonder what happened…" Karin said worriedly. "Do you think it's about Hinata?" She shrugged again, her face once again falling.

Suigetsu sighed and ran his hand through his hair… "It has to be… I don't think anyone else would have him in this state…"

"What could she have done though…? Hinata wouldn't do anything to hurt Sasuke…" Karin pushed her glasses back with a finger and threw her head back. "Poor Sasuke-kun…"

_Knock Knock_

They all turned to face the door. Their eyebrows knotted. They all looked at each other.

"Sasuke's mood right now… I don't think he wants visitors." Karin stated shaking her head slowly.

Suigetsu nodded and looked at Karin seriously. Karin got up and opened the door slowly to greet a white haired jounin standing at the door. One arm up in the form of a greeting.

"Yo."

"Kakashi? … Uhh… Sasuke's…" she looked into the apartment with a shamed face, scratching her head nervously. Then she stared at him with a look of shock when he merely stepped past her. _How rude…_

Her stare didn't change until he disappeared in the direction of Sasuke's room. She stared at Suigetsu. Suigetsu just grinned hopefully. "Maybe good news?" He laid back with his arms beneath his head. _Let's hope… Sasuke is damn annoying when he's like this…_

Kakashi looked at Juugo, who merely moved away from Sasuke's doorway. That was Sasuke's old teacher, and he didn't really want to interrupt. Maybe the news would cheer Sasuke up… Kakashi definitely knew Sasuke better than team hebi anyway. He walked away with heavy footsteps, joining everyone else in their misery...

Kakashi fell heavily against the door and leaned on it. "Yo… Sasu-" Kakashi almost fell in when the door all of a sudden opened. Kakashi regained his stand and gave him a smile… or… at least he could tell it was a smile, judging by the way his one visible eye peeked out at him.

"What do you want?" Sasuke said, his features hardened. His eyes no longer glazed over. He just looked pissed.

Kakashi's smile faded and he shut his eye sighing loudly as he walked over and slumped down into sitting position on Sasuke's bed.

"I heard they kicked you out of the hospital for yelling at Kiba when he woke up…"

Sasuke shrugged, looking away at the window, indifference in his eyes.

"You can't treat patients like that… making them feel guilty." Kakashi tried hard to not make it sound like a lecture. He knew what this smartass avenger would say to a lecture.

Sasuke smirked… and then the coldness in his features returned… as if they had never left. He looked at Kakashi sternly.

"You know… this kinda thing is the only reason I'm glad my parents are dead…"

Kakashi flinched at the cold comment. "Hai… wakatta… gomen…"… He stared at him with his lazy eye. The sight of Sasuke looking so upset because Hinata's status had been unknown for only a bit more than a day, was shocking. He never thought Sasuke would care for anyone more than Naruto… but he was wrong. He had found more than friendship in that shy little Hyuuga. Kakashi sighed loudly scratching his head and continued. "Anyway, that's not what I came for… Tsunade said you were complaining about you getting rusty… due to lack of training."

Sasuke looked at him with a scowl… "You really think I'm up to training with Hinata missing like this…" Sasuke stared at him… _Are they retarded… or are they trying to keep me busy…_ Tsunade, to state it simply, hadn't given a damn about Sasuke's training… why would she care now? Suspicion slowly crept into Sasuke's features and he looked at Kakashi accusingly.

"You know something don't you…?"

Kakashi stood up. He did know something… but telling Sasuke this… would only freak him out even more… He couldn't say… "No… nothing yet… calm down already… it hasn't been that long… for all we know she escaped the flames and passed out somewhere close by…"

Sasuke's face fell and his frown deepened… The tension was killing him… It felt horrible… if he lost Hinata… then all that he'd have left is Naruto and maybe Sakura… and that just didn't sound too appealing to him. Not only that… but he'd have to marry another girl… as his punishment… marrying someone else… no way. He could never do it. He wouldn't go back to his original plan… just restoring the clan… no love, no emotions involved…

Sasuke trembled at the thought. No. They'd better find her. Or he would.

OoOoOoOoO

Hinata tried for the fourteenth time that day to activate her byakugan. She formed the hand seals and squeaked out the words "Byakugan!" She sighed shutting her eyes tightly and rubbing them with the back of her hands… _Nothing… why?_

What had they done to her…?Her hands fell when she heard someone approaching. She couldn't check who was coming either… Being without her Byakugan for that long was so unnerving to her… She panicked at the sound of anyone approaching her so called room.

The sound of keys dangling was heard and then the huge creak of the huge rusted door being pushed open reached her ears unwelcomingly. A woman walked in with a huge smile plastered on her face. The woman was a bit plump and maybe in her mid 30's. Hinata looked at her with a tiny frown. _Why does she look so happy?_

The woman set a dish down on the table and turned to face her. She eyed her carefully, her eyes coming up and down continuously. "Well you're a scrawny little thing… come here…" She said softly as she poured some form of liquid from one large bowl to another smaller one. "Doozo." She held out her arm with the bowl balanced on her hand.

Hinata looked at it uncomfortably… "W-what is it…?"

"It's soup… nothing but vegetables in it… it'll do you good, it's warm" she said carefully eyeing the bowl as if it was the most delicious thing out there.

Hinata held her hands out carefully as the bowl was handed to her quickly. She jumped at the sudden touch of heat. She nearly dropped it, but she finally got a good hold of it. _H-hot.._ The bowl had reached a high temperature due to it's contents… She walked over shakily to the table and set it down with a small awkward smile. "A-arigatoo." She bowed slightly. Being polite was Hinata's nature. Even while she was being held hostage…

"Dou itashimashite." The woman said brightly holding up a spoon with her left hand.

Hinata looked at the woman and decided she felt comfortable around her… More or less. She bit her lip nervously. "A-ano… d-do you kn-know why y-you know… they haven't d-done anything to me yet…?"

"Hm?" the woman looked up from her own bowl and shook her head. "I… honestly don't know anything hun… they were planning on doing their business immediately… before anyone could figure out where you went."

Hinata frowned slightly. Apparently, that wasn't the case then… Why were they keeping her here…?

"S-so…" She brought her fingertips up to her lips and began biting her nails. She was confused. Why were they waiting? Konoha would most likely figure out what was going on very soon. And no way could this village stand up to Konoha…

Then it came to her… _Ryunosuke…_ He had said that he had done too much for her… _Was it him? Why? Why would he risk it? Was that why her Byakugan wasn't working?_ She felt a sudden pain in her head and held it tightly, her body bending weakly.

She was pulled back up straight by the woman. "Get up… come on now… eat!… you look starved…" Hinata seated herself on the table lightly swaying back and forth and picked up the bowl they had served for her, she stared at it with a tiny smile… It was warm now, and the woman was right, it would definitely do her good.

"A-ano… what c-can you tell me a-about Ryunosuke?" Hinata asked hesitantly beginning her meal. She couldn't figure out what had happened… it was obvious she was gonna get her eyes taken… but why hadn't they done it already and disposed of her…? The Byakugan was great… but not worth an all out war… and the shinobi of Konoha are not people to be fooled for long…

The woman looked up at her from her own bowl and looked up thoughtfully, wrinkling her nose. "Well… he's not from here… nobody here has the techniques he has. He's a hired shinobi. We don't really know where he's from…" She said looking down at the pot again and blowing softly as to cool it. Then she looked at Hinata with curiosity. "Ne, why the question?"

This caught Hinata by surprise… What was she supposed to say…? This woman, although kind, was of this village… For all Hinata knew, she could just be leading her to a false sense of security, of friendship. Hinata merely looked down, unable to say anything, she continued slowly drinking her soup.

The woman stared for a while then burst out laughing making Hinata's head turn sharply. "Awww… that's fine dear, no need to say anything."

Hinata looked up, her eyes wide with confusion. "N-nani…?"

The woman just continued with her seemingly endless laughter shaking her head. Her hand against her forehead as if to keep her head on her shoulders…

Hinata merely kept her face as it was, the same state of confusion still present… Then her eyes widened and her cheeks colored slightly. "I-Iiee… sonna-" But her tiny voice was cut off by the persistent laughter… It took a whole minute for the laughter to decrease… at least in volume.

"Well… I suppose I'll leave now." The woman said suddenly, struggling to catch her breath, her lips still forming a wide smile. With that she gave Hinata a kind look and picked up the pot with both arms. "I'll be across the hall if you need me." With that she shut the door roughly behind her making Hinata jump with the noise.

Hinata sighed… looking down at the soup, her nose wrinkled… _She'll be across the hall… Not like I can leave anyway… Unless it's right in front…_

Hinata's eyes glazed over at the thought… _When am I gonna be able to go home…? Am I ever…? _

The cold facts were that, unless, by some miracle, someone came to rescue her, she wouldn't be going home at all… and if she would… she'd be missing one, or both eyes…

She winced at the thought… She didn't want to imagine it anymore… The thought of never being able to see her family, her friends… her Sasuke… was too much for her weak mind.

OoOoOoOoO

Tsunade looked worriedly at Kakashi… Her arms crossed tensely in front of her chest. "You… need to be more careful with your wording… He can't know… If he does, he'll leave… for sure. We all know this… and if I forgive something like that from him again… the elders will have my head for it…"

"Wakarimashita… Tsunade-sama…" Kakashi bowed his head slowly in shame… Then he looked back up, his expression unreadable… mostly, because of his mask.

"But, what are you planning to do? It could mean serious trouble if Sasuke found out that she was kidnapped by someone who wants to dissect her… Likewise to Konoha… and all of the Hyuugas here."

"I know that… Guuuhhhh…" Tsunade pulled her hair with frustration. Her face twisted into an expression of deep frustration. Then she looked up. "What do you suggest? They'll never admit they're holding her… trying to negotiate for her freedom, is out of the question. If we go to war with them… it will probably be worse for Hinata-chan… Her family would eat her alive if she were to return… We would win, but war should always be the last resort, we can't afford to loose troops… for just a single troop, as harsh as that sounds. " Tsunade was beginning to talk more to herself than to the white haired ninja, who stood there staring blankly. He shut his eye.

"Then… we have no choice, but to go kidnap her… no?"

Tsunade looked up, her train of thought interrupted. "That would be the best option… but… they might react offensively to that."

"We would have no choice then… we simply respond with the fact that Hinata, the Hyuuga heiress… was indeed being held captive…"

Tsunade nodded, her brow tense. "Set up a team to go after her… we need to be discreet. If we're lucky, they won't try to wage war against us for trespassing…" _Those bastards managed to pull it off without trespassing at all… _

"Understood." With that, Kakashi disappeared with a puff of smoke left as his trail.

Tsunade threw herself back into her chair, with a deep frown on her face. _Ahhh… time for some sake… Heaven knows I need it…_

OoOoOoO


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

"N-Nani?" Neji growled lowly at Kakashi. He pulled his wet hair back into a pony tail and disappeared behind the Hyuuga gates yelling something unintelligible to the other branch members, then stepping outside, shutting the gate slowly behind him. He breathed out a short sigh so as to calm his nerves then narrowed his eyes at Kakashi.

"Why wasn't I informed of your progress earlier? A Hyuuga disappearing is definitely something that we should be informed of." He took a short pause to breathe and wipe sweat off his forehead. He had been training Hanabi when Kakashi came to drop the mission scroll off.

"Especially when it's Hinata. She's the heiress." _And my cousin..._

"Hai hai... I know that. But we didn't want an all out war. You Hyuugas tend to exaggerate sometimes." Kakashi said casually, looking down at his book from time to time. Focusing on the young Hyuuga's complains would only make him nervous, and probably make the Hyuuga angry. He looked up and finally shut the book.

"So you in?" Kakashi said with a lazy tone.

"What do _you_ think?" Neji spat out annoyed and a bit offended at the question.

"Who else is in the group? And when do we leave?" Neji asked turning around towards the gate to get his things ready.

"You, Lee, Naruto, Sai and Gai... It can't be too many of us since it's an infiltration mission."

Neji nodded approvingly and stood a while longer waiting impatiently for him to answer his second question.

When the jounin failed to answer immediately, Neji was quick to remind him by placing his hand over the pages Kakashi was now attempting to read. "Oii... I asked when do we leave," he grumbled with a glare.

"Tomorrow morning at dawn..." Kakashi said uneasily and turning around, leaving Neji's hand floating over nothing for a while. Then all that was heard was a loud slam and the white haired ninja was left alone.

_How is Hinata related to these people...?_ Kakashi wondered scratching the back of his head as he made his way to Naruto's apartment.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Is Sasuke going?"

Kakashi's head fell at Naruto's question. "No... He's still not trusted to do missions outside of Konoha."

Naruto bit his lip nervously and then sat up indian style. His expression was serious for once.

"Does he know anything?"

"No."

The blonde's head fell towards his shoulder and a worried expression took over.

"I'm telling him."

Kakashi scowled. "You're just going to further anger Tsunade."

"He needs to know... that there's still hope at finding her."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head and sighed. He bent down closer to Naruto putting them at face level.

"Alright Naruto... listen.. this is what we'll do. After this I'll go drop off the rest of the mission scrolls to the rest of the team and you will head over to Sasuke's... and tell him to use henge at the gate. Tsunade sama will probably find out, but the elders won't hear of it if she doesn't say anything. The rest of the team will find out shortly after we depart, and I'll explain the situation to them... If I have to... It's pretty self-explanatory. You'll obviously have to feign being Sasuke for a while... and everytime we go out until we return... got it?"

Naruto's jaw widened. "Sugeee naaa... I thought for sure you were scared to death of Tsunade no baaachan!"

Kakashi frowned at this and straightened up, opening his book again. "See you tomorrow."

Naruto nodded with a grin and hopped onto his feet as a puff of smoke replaced Kakashi's now absent figure. The blonde grabbed his jacket and threw it over his shoulder. Then he made his way out of his apartment and onto the roof. He wanted Sasuke to know immediately. Someone who is usually brooding to themselves is definitely more of a pain when they're depressed.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sasuke's mouth hung open ever so slightly as Naruto gave him the briefings. Then he turned away. He had no idea how to be grateful to people. He usually was not a grateful person. In fact, even when he had many things to be grateful for, he rarely thanked anyone.

His eyes were glued to the floor and he didn't know how long it would take to snap out of it. _Those bastards... How dare they do this again... _Sasuke clenched his fist with anger and his knuckles whitened.

He looked up at Naruto who looked completely unnerved by Sasuke's silence and nodded. "Right. So tonight... I will walk to your place and pretend I'm you already so nobody has to see you walk out of my apartment..."

Naruto stared at Sasuke dumbfoundedly and then reacted to his plan- loudly. "Ehh?? I have to sleep here then?? Do you even have any ramen??"

Sasuke groaned and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "This isn't the time to be thinking about ramen, you dobe. But if you insist, Karin or Suigetsu will go get some for you. So you can shut up. No Ichiraku's while I'm not here either... I never eat there..."

He looked at Naruto for about a second not really wanting to see his torn face. Then he followed with a few handseals and muttered the word henge. In Sasuke's place stood a serious looking Naruto who looked down at his outfit and sighed heavily.

_I look ridiculous..._

He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and began walking out the door.

"Oii! Temee! What do you think you're doing?! You think people will buy that you're me for even a second if they see that gloomy looking expression of yours?"

Sasuke bit down hard and his eyes widened a bit. _Oh god... I have to act like the dobe too... _

"How the hell...?"

"Simple! Just smile widely all the time and be talkative."

Sasuke broke into a cold sweat and his face turned slightly blue at Naruto's instructions. He shook his head slowly and sighed loudly, muttering a number of profanities at no one in particular.

"Tch... whatever. I'm ignoring everyone on the way to your place. They won't even see me pass by."

With that Sasuke made his way to a window instead of the doorway, and jumped off.

_Pulling off Naruto in the morning is going to be a pain..._

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Neji's eyes moved towards the team and then slowly made their way back to 'Naruto'. He kept throwing him suspicious glares as the orange clad loud mouth approached him.

_Naruto is earlier than everyone else...? _

"Naruto... move quicker. We need to leave as soon as possible." Neji said crossing his arms and deciding to disregard the phenomenon.

'Naruto' just glared back at Neji and then remembered that he was attempting to portray the ninja with the loudest mouth in all of Konoha. He gritted his teeth roughly and then put up a fist in Neji's direction. _This is pathetic!_

"Shut up Neji! No one's even here yet!" 'Naruto' practically yelled shaking one fist at the jounin.

"That's exactly why it's odd that you're here at all..." Neji stated simply and throwing Sasuke an almost invisible grin.

Sasuke's eye twitched when he realized Naruto would never, _never_ stay quiet to anything anyone told him.

"Of course I'm early baka! I want to go save Hinata-chan already!" Sasuke said sighing afterwards.

"Right..." Neji answered still holding that tiny grin on his face and then looked over to find the rest of the team approaching. Lee of course, with as much energy as 'Naruto' should be displaying.

"OH! The power of familial love is what brings you here earlier than all of us, ne!? Neji kun!! It's truly inspiring! This is the power of youth at it's peak!" Lee sang loudly with his arms in motion as Sai paced next to him holding the usual fake smile. His hands automatically made their way to his ears and they pushed hoping to block out the singing of his team mate.

"Ah... Indeed Lee, indeed!" Gai added with equal emotion as he patted the young chuunin on his right shoulder.

"Oh! Naruto kun! Why so glum this morning! This is not like you at all! The power of youth seems to be absent in you today." Lee stated innocently inching closer and closer to a stoic looking Sasuke.

_Dammit..._

Before Lee could press forward for an answer, Kakashi jumped out of the branches and landed right in front of Sasuke. _God Sasuke... you can't act to save your life..._

"Okay... so our mission is to sneak into the territory of the hidden cloud... Sai... you will be our scouter since neither Shino nor Kiba are yet out of the hospital."

Sai nodded.

"Naruto," he turned to 'Naruto', "your main mission is to continue heading into the Cloud... we will hold off anyone who tries to interfere as we get closer."

"You're trusting Naruto for the most important job?" Neji asked with small hint of uneasiness. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him in a scowl. He stayed quiet however, since he really had no idea how Naruto would respond to this.

"Naruto has the most chakra here... it's likely he will be able to advance by himself. So whatever help we can give him will not be spared."

He looked around nervously and let his eyes stop on Neji who kept throwing Naruto looks of doubt.

_I need to wrap this up and fast... Sasuke looks like he's getting nervous already._

"Right... So is everyone ready?"

Every head present gave a nod and then they were off.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

They had been walking for a mere half hour. Just long enough for them to be well out of Konohagakure. Neji shifted and readjusted his backpack and then faced Sasuke, then Kakashi.

He looked back forward with a somber face.

"You can drop the Henge... Uchiha..." Neji said calmly waiting for Sasuke to react.

Kakashi, along with the rest of the team stopped on the next branch they landed on and surrounded 'Naruto' and Neji. The whole of the team looked surprised- all except for Neji who had seen the chakra system with his byakugan. _No two persons are alike..._

Sasuke grunted and then a puff of smoke covered Naruto's now aloof demeanor and then none other than Sasuke replaced him. He beamed at Neji's ability to notice so fast.

The rest of the group stood in silence, not caring much for the unexpected change in team members- until Lee spoke.

"Uwaaa! Sasuke kun! Surely, he is just trying to make sure his beloved comes back untouched! So... Beautiful!" Lee spoke with exaggeration, and a whole waterfall of tears began spilling down his face. He turned to his teacher, who now also sported the same amount of tears and he took out two hankerchiefs- one of which he handed to his green clad student.

"Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Sensei!"

The two joined in a tight embrace as the team stared with expressions of horror. All except for Sai, who still held the usual fox like smile on his face.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

A/N: Wow... it's been over a year since I last updated. I know you all hate me... those of you who liked my story. I won't even try to apologize for taking so long. I was just unmotivated is all. lol but lately i was reading some fanfictions and i was freaking out cuz nobody was updating and so i thought... yeah i should update... XD well hope you all like the chapter. I'll try to update as frequently as possible. This friday is the last day of the term then i get a break. so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. well bye!


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Hinata let out soft, half suppressed sobs as she was being shaken violently by one of the Cloud's meds. Their patience had reached their peak and they were currently taking it out on her, foolishly hoping that shaking her would somehow make her Byakugan work again.

Tears were slipping out of Hinata's shut eyes and sliding quickly down the sides of her cheeks. She was laid down and her shoulders were beginning to become numb at how hard the man was grasping them. She held her breath for as long as she could until he finally released her, shoving her hard by the shoulders towards the table. Her head's collision with the table resounded with a loud bang and Hinata could not help but let out a painful yelp as blood began slowly oozing out from under her head.

"What the fuck is the matter with you? You have no seal! What did you do? You must've done something to shut it off!" screamed the medic nin grabbing her roughly again by the shoulders. Hinata kept her eyes shut and merely squeaked again when he made her sit back up. He grabbed her by the cheeks roughly and pulled her face close to his own. Then all Hinata felt was a stinging slap to her right cheek.

"Open your fucking eyes, bitch!"

Hinata did as she was told and then she was once again grabbed by her face, forced to face him with his fingers digging deeper into her cheeks.

"Answer me." he murmured venomously.

"I- I didn't... d-do a-any-any-thing! P-please!" Hinata cried, no longer bothering to hold her tears back at all. They began flowing at a rapid pace down her face.

The medic resisted the urge to slap her again and then threw her back onto the table again, the back of her head again hitting down hard onto the surface. She shrunk into herself and turned her body away placing her hands over the wound on the back of her head. She sobbed softly until she heard (and felt) a hard kick land on the edge of the table and then angry, stomping footsteps disappearing into the hallway. That was when she let it all out. Her soft sobs turned into loud wails of pain and her nose began running...

At the door stood a silent Ryunosuke. His usual radiant yellow eyes looked dull and expressed deep sorrow. His lips lay slightly parted and he looked paler than he usually did. His eyes began roaming his surroundings for a bit before turning back to the Hyuuga who was still weeping uncontrollably. He looked away at the sight. It pained him. He didn't understand why, but it did. And he was not going to put up with it for another night. He gave her one last look-over and then slowly began pacing away from the whining.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

A knot formed on Hinata's throat when she heard the door creak open. She shut her eyes tightly and shifted to fetal position clutching her knees tightly to herself. _Not again... please..._

When she felt a soft tug at the yukata she was now wearing, she clutched tighter. _ Go away!_

"Hinata-sama..."

When she heard Ryunosuke's voice, Hinata's eyes opened suddenly and she sat up to face him as a huge wave of relief overcame her.

"R-ryunosuke? Wh-what are you d-doing here?"

Ryunosuke shrugged at her question. "I have no idea... but you will get up and you will follow me without questions and without noise. Understood?"

"E-ehh? To where?" Hinata's voice revealed fear towards her captor and this made him scowl openly.

"I said no questions." he said briskly, deciding to ignore her if she spoke again. He roughly made a grab for her hand and tugged at it, leaving Hinata no say in the matter. Wherever he was taking her couldn't be much worse than where she was now. Her feet began moving as he led her in resignation.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Hinata's eyes narrowed when she caught sight of where they were headed.

"W-we're leaving the Cloud? Wh-why?" Hinata asked suspiciously as they approached the large gates. He growled back at her, stopping to face her.

"Ahh... I said no questions Hyuuga. Shut it!" He pointed a menacing finger at her and then turned forward again and began quickening his pace until he finally broke into a jog.

"We have to hurry..." he began looking around the area, "the gates aren't guarded right now because foreign shinobi were detected close by."

Hinata's mouth parted slightly at this. _Could it be Konoha?_

The information she had just heard was all she needed to regain her stamina, and she began running alongside Ryunosuke, who curiously still held on to her hand. Hinata, however, took no notice of this and looked straight on, anxiously expecting to see any of the Rookie 9 at any given time. Within minutes, they were well outside the gates.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Sai scanned the area as he rode atop one of his ink birds. His eyes were narrowed and his nose wrinkled in confusion. He brought up one hand and placed it beneath his jaw rubbing it lightly. Then he shook his head and motioned for the bird to head back down. As he neared the ground, the bird disappeared into nothing and Sai landed gracefully on his legs.

"Well, this _is _the Cloud..." he said more to himself than to the team ",but i'll say that there are no troops nearby from what I can see. It's suspicious... You'd think they'd be out here attacking us, just waiting for us to rescue Hinata... but nothing." His eyes made it evident that he was uneasy (at the fact that he couldn't see much) and this somehow became contagious, and they all became uneasy.

A soft gasp was heard before a light slap and everyone turned around to face Lee who had one hand over his gaping jaw. "M-masaka! You think maybe they're all celebrating cuz they already dissected her and learned the secrets of the Byakugan?!?!"

Sasuke's eyes flashed red at the comment and he threw Lee an icy glare. Neji's face had been drained of all color at the remark.

"For their sake... I hope not." Sasuke said slowly nearing Lee with clenched fists. Lee gulped and then stepped back laughing uneasily.

"Gomen Sasuke kun! I'm sure that's not the case! Who'd be able to harm someone as innocent and loving as Hinata-chan??"

"Who, indeed," a stranger's voice sounded from among the darkness of the forest halting Sasuke's steps.

Instantly, everyone in the team had taken out at least one kunai and both eye jutsu users had activated their bloodlines. Neji's veins popped out around his eyes as he began scanning his field of vision. He turned slowly to his left and pointed at the unfamiliar chakra system_s_ that had appeared within his peripheral.

"There." Everyone turned to where he was pointing. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"There's more than one..." He stated calmly and sternly with his eyes focusing on the targets. His eyes widened when he recognized the second chakra system.

"Hinata-sama." Neji rushed forward towards the chakra as did Sasuke and both came to a sudden halt when they saw Hinata being guided by the hand by a stranger- and not looking the least bit frightened. A baffled look settled over Neji's and Sasuke's features.

"Who the hell are you? Hand her over." Sasuke growled breaking the ice as he glared intensely at the shinobi who was currently holding onto Hinata's hand. His hands were squeezing the kunai he was holding in a death grip.

Ryunosuke put his one available hand up defensively and cooly gave grin continuing forward in slow, small steps. "Gee, so violent."

"S-Sasuke-kun! It's okay! H-he helped me!" Hinata said walking a bit behind the stranger.

Sasuke looked at her briefly and his grip relaxed slightly. His sharingan deactivated and his charcoal eyes darted back to Ryunosuke.

"Let go of her hand already." A large overgrown vein had popped out of Sasuke's forehead as he stared menacingly at Ryunosuke, who had been holding her hand the entire time. He approached slowly and faced Ryunosuke straight on. They were exactly the same height so neither seemed to intimidate the other one bit. Ryunosuke held his grin; Sasuke wore a frown. Then Sasuke outstretched his arm and he slowly grabbed Hinata's arm gently and tugged at it, pulling her away from the yellow eyed nin.

He embraced her immediately but didn't break the eye contact with Ryunosuke, whose grin had vanished and had been replaced by a deep frown.

_That's what I get for helping..._

Neji stood there dumbfounded at the spectacle. Hinata hadn't even tried saying anything to him, her own cousin. He wrinkled his nose at the scene and shut his eyes tight with frustration.

"If neither of you mind... We need to get going... before they come find us." Neji reminded them as he crossed his hands in front of his chest and stared at Hinata, who's only visible area was the top of her blue head of hair. He shook his head with disapproval.

Sasuke turned around at this and began walking away, only to be stopped by Ryunosuke, who had placed his hand on his shoulder.

"You think I'm just gonna let you two leave like that? I have done too much for her... and I'm suspected..."

"That's not our problem." Sasuke murmured out to the stranger and he pulled his shoulder away roughly then proceeded approaching the rest of the team.

"Sasuke kun! Don't you think we owe him some sort of thank you for rescuing your beloved!?!" Lee exclaimed energetically at first, then his voice trailed off when he noted the glare Sasuke was throwing him.

"Indeed he does." Neji said sternly. "He'll come with us... and we'll see just how much he did to help Hinata-sama." Neji grinned evilly as he caught a glimpse of Sasuke's twitching eyebrow.

"Tch. Fine. Whatever. Let's just go."

With that the team of shinobi began their way back to Konoha, hoping nothing would get out of hand when they reached their destination. Sasuke would be in deep shit if Tsunade was not in a good mood... or drunk.


End file.
